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THE FIREBRAND 


A Comedy in the Romantic Spirit 


BY 
EDWIN JUSTUS MAYER 





BONI anno LIVERIGHT 


PUBLISHERS os ss New YorkK 


Copyright, 1924, by Boni & Liveright, Inc. 


First Printing, December, 1924 
Second Printing, February, 1925 


All rights reserved including that of translation into 
foreign languages. All acting rights, both professional 
and amateur, including motion picture rights, are re- 
served in the United States, Great Britain, and all 
countries of the Copyright Union by the author. 


No performance may be given without special ar- 
rangement with the axthor. 





To Ry wae f 
MY MOTHER Ne ‘ 


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yt Md 
LP als 
a 


Ais 5 Ny i 


His Ba 
ih 





NOTE 


Although I have endeavored to retain the spirit of 
Cellini and of his times, as revealed in his autobiog- 
raphy, “The Firebrand” is inspirational rather than 
documental. I am indebted to Miss Marion Spitzer 
for her original suggestion to me that a play should be 
written about Cellini based on his love affair with one 
Angelica—whom I have called Angela and made his 
model in the comedy. In his rendition of this incident, 
Cellini relates that he fell in love with Angelica and 
that Beatrice, her mother, learning of his intention to 
steal the girl, fled with her. Some months later the artist 
heard from Angelica that she was in Sicily. “By that 
time I had beeen giving myself up to all the pleasures 
imaginable, and I had taken another love, but only to 
extinguish this earlier flame.” Soon after, a murderous 
brawl made Cellint flee Rome; he sought refuge in 
Naples, and found Angela, “whose endearments to me 
were warmer than I can describe.” Cellini struck 
a bargain with Beatrice, by which she surrendered her 
daughter. “Angelica begged me to buy her a gown of 
black velvet, which was very cheap in Naples. I did 
all they asked me willingly; sent for the velvet, bargained 
for and paid it; but the old woman, who thought me 
fatuously in love, demanded a gown of fine cloth for 
herself, would have had me lay out a great deal on her 
sons, and begged for more money than I had offered 
her. At this I turned to her good-naturedly and said. 
‘My dear Beatrice, didn’t I offer you enough?’ ‘No,’ 
she said. So TI replied that what was not enough for 
her would suffice for me, and having kissed my Angelica, 
we parted, she with tears, I with a laugh... .” 





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THE FIREBRAND 


As presented at the Morosco Theatre, New York, 
on October 15, 1924 


pit Ea Cuartes McCartuy 
8 a ea Hortense ALDEN 
BrenvENvuTO CELLINI........ JOSEPH SCHILDKRAUT™ 
MUEBETOA ssn g's vale sae e's baie ded ioe ee EpEN Gray 
0S ha Se Littian KIncsspurry 
OS ns GrorcE Drury Harr 
ALrEssanpro, Duke of Florence. ...Franx Morcan- 
Otrraviano, the Duke’s Cousin....E. G. Rosrnson - 
DMEM i i gis sf). ewes be Be ates ALLYN JOSLYN 
RPEIIIOUIERS (6 0 y . ok as by Helene Nana Bryant 
0S Se ne Wauace Fortune 
ss Ee a Epwarp QuInn 


DorotHuy BICKNELL 
LADIES OF THE CoURT 
EvLEanor Ewine 
Kenneth Dana 


Robert Ploomer 


GENTLEMEN OF THE CouRT Scott Hirschberg 
AND SOLDIERS OF THE Roland Winters 
Doucuy or FLoRENCE Philip Niblette 


Oliver Hulton 
Calvin Vollmer 





THE FIREBRAND 







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Pan, 


CHARACTERS 


Ascanio, Cellini’s apprentice. 

Emini, A servant. 

BENVENUTO CELLINI. 

ANGELA, Cellini’s model. 

Beatrice, Her mother. 

Prer Lannt, Cellini’s friend. 

ALEssANDRO DE Menic1, Duke of Florence. 

OTTAVIANO DE MEpIct1. 

PoLvERINO. 

Tue Ducuess or FLORENCE. 

A Soupvier. 

A Haneman. 

Courtiers, several ladies of the Duchess, Soldiers, a 
Page. 


ACT I 


Scene: Crxutni’s workshop. Afternoon. 
Pp 


ACT II 


Scene I: The garden of the Summer Palace, out- 
side of Florence. Night. 

Scene II: The balcony of the Palace. A few 
minutes later. 


ACT III 


Scene: Crus workshop. Late next morning. 


Time: 1535. Puace: Florence. 


THE FIREBRAND 


ACT I 


Ceiuinir’s workshop in Florence. At the ex- 
treme right rear is the entrance from the street; 
the door is guarded by a heavy iron bolt, and 
several steps below it lead into the shop. To the 
left front is the large and ornamental door 
which leads into Cr.utni’s house. Opposite 
thts, right front, is a small door which leads 
into an adjunct of the shop. To the left 
rear is a small furnace with an anvil beside it. 
Behind the furnace and anvil ts a Renaissance 
window, which floods the room with light. The 
ceiling is open above several beams, as though 
a little-used attic might be above. The shop 
itself is a hodge-podge of beauty made and in 
the making. Statues, both ancient and con- 
temporary—the latter often unfinished—are 
littered about the room with various vases and 
exquisite curios. A table stands near the right 
front exit, with several chairs about tt. 

Ascanio, a lad of perhaps seventeen, is busy 
hammering a mass of glowing metal on the 


anvil. He hums a tune in rhythm with his 
15 


16 


THE FIREBRAND 


swinging arm. <A door is heard slamming out- 
side left. Ascanto, as though guessing who 
may be approaching, hides behind a pedestal 
near the left front door just as it opens to 
admit Eniuia, the pretty serving wench of the 
house, a year or two younger than the appren- 
tice—who springs on her and kisses her savagely 
before she is aware of his presence. 


EMILIA 
[Screaming and tearing herself loose, faces 
him. | 


You... you wolf! You bit me. 


ASCANIO 
[ Laughs. | 


Come here! Let me bite you again. You are 
sweet to the taste. 


EMILIA 
[ Retreating from him. | 


Alligator! Crocodile! Vermin! You bit me. 


ASCANIO 


[Trying to get at her.] 


I don’t want to eat you. I want to love you. 


EMILIA 
[With instinctive wisdom. ] 


It’s all the same with boys like you. 


THE FIREBRAND 17 


ASCANIO 
[Turning red. | 
Iam not a boy. I am aman. 


EMILIA 
[Her chance to laugh. | 
MAN! You are a boy—a bad boy. 


ASCANIO 
[Very angry. | 
If you call me boy again, I’ll do something worse 
than bite you. I’lI—I’ll smash your face! 


EMILIA 
[Reveling in her new found power to enrage 
him. | 
Two-year-old! Infant! Diaper-giant! 


ASCANIO 
[As she evades him. | 
Wait till I get hold of you. 


EMILIA 
[ Tauntingly. | 
You’ll never get hold of me, boy. 


ASCANIO 
[Picking wp a chisel. | 
I'll make you wish you hadn’t said that. Ill cut 
you up. 


18 THE FIREBRAND 





[Runs after her, but fearful of knocking over 
something precious, stops and glares. | 


EMILIA 
Cut me up! I said you would like to eat me, 
didn’t I? And you said No. 


ASCANIO 
If you would be kind to me I would be kind to you. 


EMILIA 
I will never be kind to you. 


ASCANIO 
Then I will kick you until you are kind to me. 


EMILIA 
Kick me! 
ASCANIO 
[Perplexed at this himself.] 
Only because I love you. . . 


EMILIA 
[Increasingly indignant. | 
Kick me! So! —you learned that from your 
master. 
ASCANIO 
[Changing his pitch again. | 
Don’t you dare say anything against my master. 


THE FIREBRAND 19 


EMILIA 
[Impudently. | 
Why not? 
ASCANIO 
[After a moment’s thought. | 
He is a great man. 


EMILIA 
He is a great beast. 


ASCANIO 
[Moving towards her once more. | 
Now I will certainly kick you. 


EMILIA 
[Seizing the wax model of a vase which is near 
her. | 
If you come any closer I will throw this to the 
ground. 
ASCANIO 
[In a panic.]| | 
Don’t do that! 
EMILIA 
Then get out of my way. 
[She circles about him successfully until she is 
in a direct line with the left front exit. | 


ASCANIO 
[In a sweat. | 


20 THE FIREBRAND 





In the name of God, put that down! If you drop 
it, I will be beaten, I will be killed, 


EMILIA 
[Stil holding the vase. | 
You like to beat, but you do not like to be beaten. 


ASCANIO 
Only put it down and I will never touch you 
again! By all of the Saints! 


EMILIA 
[Allowing his plea, gently. | 


Very well. But remember your promise. 


ASCANIO 
[Grimly, getting between her and the model. | 
I will . . . and also how you forced me to give it 
to you, Emilia, 


EMILIA 
[With a wholly imexplicable change of de- 
meanor; almost weeping. | 
I didn’t want to hurt you. You made me do 
it. 
ASCANIO 
[Ready to weep himself, at his mingled emo- 
tions of desire and humiliation. | 
You have made a fool of me. 


THE FIREBRAND 21 


EMILIA 
No, no, Ascanio. 
ASCANIO 
You were right. I am only a boy. I am not a 
man. 
EMILIA 
[Leaving the safety of the doorway and going 
to him. | 
I did not mean that, either. I never meant that. 


ASCANIO 
[Turning away. | 
You said it. 
EMILIA 
[Laying her hand on his shoulder. | 
We all say things we don’t mean. 


ASCANIO 
[Taking her hand. | 
I didn’t mean that I would kick you, either. 


EMILIA 
[Permitting him to retain her hand. | 
What did you mean? 


ASCANIO 
I meant that I loved you, that I wanted you, that 
I think of you when I work at day and in my bed by 
night! 


22 


THE FIREBRAND 


EMILIA 
[Taking back her hand and covering her face. | 
Bed! ... You mustn’t say such things to me. 


ASCANIO 
[Arrogant with the prescience of victory. | 
I will say to you—what I choose. 


EMILIA 
[Stepping away rapidly. | 
No. 
ASCANIO 
[Running after her. | 
Don’t go. 
EMILIA 
[ Pausing. | 
I must go, 
ASCANIO 
I won’t hurt you. 
EMILIA 
I am afraid. 
ASCANIO 
[Catching her arm. | 
Let me kiss you .. . hug you... , 
EMILIA 
[Shoving him from her.] 


No, no. 


THE FIREBRAND 23 





[She runs out on him. Ascanio returns glumly 
to his work. But his thoughts, which at first 
belong to Emiia, are gradually absorbed by 
the metal before him; and soon he begins to 
hum again in rhythm with his blows... . 
CELuIni bursts into the room, without warn- 
ing, through the rear door, a large dagger in 
his hand; in an instant, he has closed and 
bolted the door and leans against it, breath- 
ing heavily. Criuini is thirty-five and al- 
ready his genius has made him celebrated. | 


CELLINI 
[With his whole heart. | 
Mother of God, the world is full of villains! 
[ Ascanto looks at him, full of curiosity, but contin- 
ues to hammer away. Crwuini turns wrathfully.] 
Stop that infernal noise! 


ASCANIO 
[ Astounded. | 
But master, this is the cup for the Cardinal for 
which he is in a hurry 





CELLINI 
[Struck by an idea. | 
The Cardinal! 
[He goes to the table, where there are writing 
materials, and begins a note with mtense 


24 THE FIREBRAND 


earnestness. Ascanio, looking from _ the 
anvil to his master, and back again, finally 
cannot longer contain himself. | 


ASCANIO 
Master— [Pawse.| Master 





CELLINI 
[| Annoyed. | 
Shut up! 
ASCANIO 
[Throwing himself at Cevurnt’s feet. | 
Master, forgive me, but the metal is just right and 





unless one of us goes on with it at once 


CELLINI 
[Examining the shining embryo. | 
So it is! Why have you stopped, you fool? Do 
you want me to lose the Cardinal’s favor? Now, 
when I need all the influence I can muster? 


ASCANIO 
[ A ppalled. | 
But, master, you told me to stop. 


CELLINI 
[ Indignant. | 
I? I? I? Itold you to stop? AmImad? Am 
I possessed? [Folding the note.| Ascanio, listen to | 


THE FIREBRAND 25 


me. I must tell you that I am in great danger. I 
have just killed Maffio. 


ASCANIO 
[ Stunned. | 
Killed him? 
CELLINI 
Yes, I hung a bloody necklace around his throat 
which he will wear for a long time, I am happy to say. 


ASCANIO 
How—where was it? 


CELLINI 

Let me tell you all about it. [He seats himself 
upon the table and begins his narrative with obvious 
enjoyment.| I was coming home, through the nar- 
row street, when I noticed a fellow standing on one 
side, and two on the other side. I thought, Ben- 
venuto, you had better look out. Well, sure enough, 
as I came up, I saw that one was Maffio; when I 
knew that it was he, I was in a great heat to get at 
him, but seeing that the others would be at my back, 
I sprang to the wall and dared them to come on. 
You know how I am with a dagger; it is a family 
trait to handle one as Zeus handles the lightning! 
I turned away the two of them in a jiffy, and Maffio 
would have fled, but. before he could do so, I struck 
him in the neck. Then I made off— [He suddenly 


26 THE FIREBRAND 


realizes that Ascanto has begun to tap the cup again 
and breaks off in disgust.| How often must I tell 
you to stop making that damnable noise? 


ASCANIO 
[Carried beyond fear by enthusiasm. | 
But, master, who could stop now? Why the thing 
is anxious to be beaten into yourdesign! [Holds up 
the spirited mass.| See! It cries out for its right 
shape. 
CELLINI 
[ A pprovingly. | 
By the Holy Church, I think you have actually 
caught fire from me. You may make an artist yet. 


ASCANIO 
[Abashed with pleasure. | « 
But never an artist like you! 


CELLINI 
[ Dismissing the absurd idea. | 

Men like myself do not happen twice. But still, 
you will be an artist [regards the cup lovingly] .. . 
and that is a great thing. Do you know why? I 
am in great danger of my life, at the moment, 
Ascanio, but compared to other men who walk in 
peace, I am a safe man. For all of us are born 
naked, and we live in danger against the winds, 
clothed only in the little safety we find which we call 


THE FIREBRAND 27 


beauty. This cup is a better armor to me than a 
pope’s pardon: that vase is a visor which protects 
me from Time’s battle-ax; and through that statue, 
I enter into the Holy Ghost before I die. Do you 
understand these things? 


ASCANIO 
[ Uncertainly. | 
I think that I do. 


CELLINI 
[Mimicking his tone. | 

You think that you do! You are a great booby 
and will never be anything else. [Handing him the 
note.| Here, run with this to the Cardinal, and beg 
him intercede for me with the Duke. Tell him I was 
set upon by three men. I defended myself, and killed 
Maffio in the brawl. And here—take this vase as a 
gift from me—to the Cardinal—the ignorant fool 
will not appreciate it, but take it to him—and get 
back as quickly as you can. [Ascanio starts to- 
wards the rear door.| No, that door stays shut. 
Go through the house. And send Angela to me. 
fAscanio exits, Crxuini regards the cup with satis- 
faction.] The idiot is not without talent. 

[Anceta enters. Since CELuini uses her as his 
model, she is of course beautifully formed; 
and despite her experiences—brought on by 
her bawdy mother—she has retained a fine 


28 THE FIREBRAND 





sweetness of expresston. CrLuini, absorbed 
in his work, does not notice her until she 


speaks. | 
ANGELA 
[ Timidly. | 
You sent for me? 
CELLINI 
[Dropping his tools with delight. | 
Angela! 
ANGELA 
Shall I undress? 
CELLINI 


No, I will not work today. 


ANGELA 
But you wished to see me. 


CELLINI 
Must I see you only when I have a chisel in my 
hand? Do you never think that I am a man as well 
as an artist? 





ANGELA 
[ Confused. | 
My mother 
CELLINI 
[ Spitting. | 


Do not mention that harridan! 


THE FIREBRAND 29 


ANGELA 
[Submissively. | 
Yes, Sir. 
CELLINI 
And do not say, Yes, Sir! It is my desire that 
you call me Benvenuto. 


ANGELA 
[Overawed by this condescension. | 
Yes, Sir. 
CELLINI 


Angela, my life is in the gravest danger. 


ANGELA 
[With artless concern. | 
Oh, Sir, do not say that! 


CELLINI 
[Harshly. | 
I have forbidden you to call me Sir, Let me hear 
you call me Benvenuto. 


ANGELA 
[In a soft tone. | 
Benvenuto. 


CELLINI 
Let me hear you say it again! 


30 THE FIREBRAND 


ANGELA 
Benvenuto. 
CELLINI 
[Throwing his arms wide tn rapture. | 
Seraphs and nightingales! your songs are less 
than her common speech. Oh, Angela, Angela, I am 
a violent and dreadful man, covered with the blood 





of my enemies 
ANGELA 
I had forgotten your danger. 


CELLINI 
| Irritated. | 
Do not interrupt me, when I am speaking well. 


ANGELA 
[ Crushed. | 
I am sorry. 
CELLINI 
No, no, it is I who am sorry, for the music of 
your voice puts to shame the splendor of my words! 
I was born with a bird caged in my heart, and you 
have set the bird free, Angela. 


ANGELA _ 
[Not knowing how to take this. ] 
You are making fun of me. 


CELLINI 
I would as soon make fun of the Madonna! And 


THE FIREBRAND : 31 


to think that you come into my life at its very 
end... 
ANGELA 
Someone wishes to kill you? 


CELLINI 
A dozen men—but they fear me more than I fear 
them. It is only the Duke’s anger that I fear. 


ANGELA 
You have offended him? 


CELLINI 
I killed two men today, and I do not know what 
he will do about it. When I was pardoned, it was 
on condition that I keep the peace. 


ANGELA 
[ Scared. | 
Who was it you killed? 


CELLINI 

Maffio and another, whose name I don’t know. 
But let me tell you all about it. [He adopts the 
posture he had when telling Ascanto the story, sit- 
ting on the table, and begins.| I was coming home 
through the narrow street, when I noticed three fel- 
lows standing on one side, and three on the other. 
I thought, Benvenuto, you had better look out! 
Well, sure enough, as I came up, I saw that one was 


32 THE FIREBRAND 


Maffio; when I saw that it was he, I was in a great 
heat to get at him, and sprang towards him; but a 
fellow getting in my way—and a huge fellow he was, 
with his dagger aimed straight for my heart—I 
turned aside his blow, and stabbed him where he 
would have stabbed me. (I must tell you that we 
Cellinis have been famous with sword and dagger for 
centuries.) Well, then I fought my way through 
the five of them, until I reached Maffio, the rest run- 
ning away as fast as their accursed legs would carry 
them. Maffio would have gone with them, but I 
caught him and stabbed him, the blade going so Ee 
that I had trouble withdrawing it. 


ANGELA 
[Clasping her hands. | 
God save you! 
CELLINI 
Although I only defended myself, my enemies will 
make plenty out of the matter, and I shall probably 
be hanged. 
ANGELA 
[Simply and sincerely. | 
When you say that, I could cry. 


CELLINI 
[Gratified that his words have had their desired 


effect. | 
And if I am hanged, how long will you cry? 


THE FIREBRAND 33 





ANGELA 
All of the day, unless my mother beats me and 
makes me stop. 


CELLINI 
[Going to the door left front, and shouting. | 
If that beastly witch hits you again, I will break 
every bone in her body !—and she is all bones. 


ANGELA 
[ Mildly. ] 


I do not mind when she hits me. I am used to it. 


CELLINI 
But you must learn to mind it. You go through 
life as if you were a dream inadream. Life may be 
a dream, but you are real. You must learn to be- 
lieve that. 


ANGELA 
Sometimes I do not seem real to myself, but like 
someone I hear passing the house . . . late at night. 
You must think me very foolish, 


CELLINI 


I think you very beautiful. 


ANGELA 
I think you very handsome. 


34 THE FIREBRAND 





CELLINI 


Why, I have never heard you so bold before! 


ANGELA 
I don’t know. It just came out. . . 


CELLINI 
You must learn to say more things like it. 


ANGELA 
I will try. 
CELLINI 
And I will teach you. You are like flowing gold 
ready to be shaped into a woman. 


ANGELA 
I am not a child! I have known men. 


CELLINI 
[ Darkly. | 
I have heard: that foul mother of yours has sold 
you to villains. Well, she shall sell you to me, an 
honest man, by the grace of God! 


ANGELA 
She tells me that I must not like you, but I do 
anyway. 
CELLINI 
Turnips do not bear roses, nor carrion, swans! I 


THE FIREBRAND 35 


have it: Your mother is a gypsy and stole you from 
the palace where you were born. 


ANGELA 
[Smiling at the conceit. | 


I was born in a hut, by the river’s edge. 


CELLINI 
Then the sea was your mother, and you came like 
Venus, white and red on a sea blue wave, to the poor 
earth-born. 
ANGELA 
You are making fun of me, again. 


CELLINI 
I am not making fun of you. 


ANGELA 
[ Alarmed. | 


Please stay where you are! 


CELLINI 

Listen to me, Angela, and try and understand 
what my heart holds. To me you are the mystery 
men must live on beyond bread; the wonder and the 
glory of the world. Do you know that I am mad 
about your hair? that I am furious about your 
eyes? and that I am jealous that God, and noi i, 
created your body? 


36 THE FIREBRAND 





ANGELA 
You must not come near me. 


CELLINI 

You are the matin in the morning, and the angelus 
in the evening; the bell which awakens me and the 
bell which says rest. 


ANGELA 
You must not come near me. 


CELLINI 

I love you like an angel, and I love you like a 
man, and I love you like a boy. I have had many 
women, but you are the first woman I have had, 
and I have not had you. 


ANGELA 
You must not come near me. 


CELLINI 
I must come very near you. 


ANGELA 
That is near enough. 


CELLINI 
[Close to her.] 
I am miles away! It will take me years to reach 
you! 


THE FIREBRAND 37 





ANGELA 
My mother has forbidden me 





CELLINI 
What do I care what your mother forbids? 


ANGELA 
But I must do as she tells me! 


CELLINI 
You must think as I think and do as I do! 
[Bratricr, chiefly distinguished from other 
hags in appearance by a monstrous growth of 
hair on her chin, has entered unobserved. 
She plants herself between them suddenly. | 


BEATRICE 
Oho! 
CELLINI 
[In disgust. | 
Aha! 
BEATRICE 
[ Defiantly. | 


She must think as you think and do as you do, eh? 


CELLINI 
Yes, and not all the bawdy mothers in Italy shall 


stop it. 


BEATRICE 
[Grasping ANcELA roughly. | 


38 THE FIREBRAND 


And that’s the man you carry on with! [To 
Crexuini.] Assassin! I am an honest woman. 


CELLINI 
[Controlling himself. | 
Honesty has a softer tone. 


BEATRICE 
[Lost for words. | 
Everybody knows the kind of man you are. 


CELLINI 
Everybody knows I am the greatest man in 
Florence. 


BEATRICE 
Yah! You were suckled by a tiger. 


CELLINI 
[Laying his hand on his dagger. | 
Beware, then, of my claw. 


ANGELA 
[ Beginning to weep. | 
Mother, come away from here. 


BEATRICE 
Away! at once! 


THE FIREBRAND 39 





CELLINI 
You can’t do that. It was agreed that Angela 
stay until my work was finished. 


BEATRICE 
It was not agreed that you set her against her 
own mother. 


CELLINI 
[Losing his temper. | 
What sort of a mother are you? 


BEATRICE 
See! You do it before my very face. 


CELLINI 
Your face? That thing you wear cannot possibly 
be your face. 


| BEA'TRICE 
O that my son were here to strike you down! 


CELLINI 
Your son? But he is busy seeking the name of 
his father. 


BEATRICE 
[ Intensely. | 
May you be blasted, inch by inch. 


40 THE FIREBRAND 


CELLINI 
[Shading his eyes as he looks at her. | 
I have noticed of late that you are growing a 
beard. You really shouldn’t do it. It doesn’t be- 
come you. 
BEATRICE 
[Pushing AncELA towards the eait left front. | 
Away! Away! [T'o Cexur1.] May your children 
be born in sties! [She is hardly audible through her 
excitement.| Away! Away! 


CELLINI 
[ Drawing his dagger. | 
If you step outside of that door I shall certainly 
kill you. 


BEATRICE 
[As he approaches ANGELA. | 
Don’t dare to touch her! If you touch her, I 
will swear to terrible things against you. 


CELLINI 
[Taking Anceta by the hand. | 
Swear away, old witch, and be sure your lies are 
good ones, for you will never tell any more. 


BEATRICE 
[Croaking. | 
What do you want? 


THE FIREBRAND 41 


CELLINI 
Angela. 
BEATRICE 
I had rather a worm was her bridegroom, than 
you! 
CELLINI 
Look out that a worm does not become your 
fifth husband, very soon, for I am sick and tired of 
your impudence. I love Angela with all my heart, 
and I will be good to her. 


BEATRICE 
And what about me? 


CELLINI 
You are to make yourself scarce. 


BEATRICE 
You ask me to give up my daughter? 


CELLINI 
You have no daughter. You have a property and 
I am willing to buy. 


BEATRICE 
[ Raising her glance on high. | 
Holy father! Did’st Thou make this man? who 
has no more respect for the feelmgs of a mother 
than to put things so plainly? 


42 THE FIREBRAND 


CELLINI 
[Impatiently. | 
Thirty ducats. 
BEATRICE 
[ Instantly. ] 
Fifty ducats. 
CELLINI 
Too much. 
BEATRICE 


Not enough, you mean. 


CELLINI 
Thirty ducats. 

BEATRICE 
Fifty or nothing! 

CELLINI 

[Turning to his work.| 

Nothing. 

BEATRICE 


Wait a minute: is fifty ducats too much for the 
shame my daughter brings on me by her wilful 


behavior? 


CELLINI 
Thirty ducats. 

BEATRICE 
Make it forty. 

CELLINI 


Done. 


THE FIREBRAND 43 


BEATRICE 
And I am to see my daughter once a week. 


CELLINI 
[At work again. | 
The deal is off. 


BEATRICE 
You haven’t any consideration. 


CELLINI 
‘When you get the money, you leave the house, not 
to return. Is that agreed? 


BEATRICE 


[ Stghing. | 
You’re hard on my feelings. 


CELLINI 
Yes, or no? 


BEATRICE 
I am a mother, and hate to lose my daughter, 
but when it’s so plainly to her advantage, I’m not the 
one to stand in the way. Let it be as you say. 


CELLINI 
[ Jubilantly. | 


Heaven grants me my greatest desire. 


44 THE FIREBRAND 





BEATRICE 
Not so fast. I haven’t seen the color of your 


money, yet. 


CELLINI 
You shall see it directly. Gold never bought so 
much, before. 
[He kisses AncEua’s hand, as Ascanio dashes 


ASCANIO 
[ Breathlessly. | 
Master. 
CELLINI 


What the devil! My wedding day is my hanging 
day. 


BEATRICE 
[Scenting difficulties. | 
But the agreement stands! 


CELLINI 
[To Ascanro. | 
What did the Cardinal say? 


ASCANIO 
That he would do what he could, but very much 
feared that you had gone too far, this time, for the 
Duke to listen to him, 


THE FIREBRAND 45 





BEATRICE 
[Aside to ANGELO. | 
What is this? 
| ANGELA 
[To BeEatTricr. | 
He has killed two men. 


CELLINI 
[T'o himself. | 
The Cardinal means that he will not put himself 
out for me. [T'o Ascanto.|] Go to the front of the 
house. Watch there. Let me know immediately if 
anyone comes. [AscanIo goes. | 


BEATRICE 
You have killed two men? Then what about my 
money? 
CELLINI 
I said you should have it directly. 


ANGELA 
[To CELxInt. | 
O Sir—Benvenuto—I pray that the Duke for- 
gives you. 
CELLINI 
My fate is in the hands of my God, and there I 
trust it. In the meanwhile, I will not let myself 
be robbed at the very gate of heaven. [T'o Bra- 


46 THE FIREBRAND 


trick.| Take Angela, and dress her in her loveli- 
est gown. Bring her to me and you shall have your 
money. 
BEATRICE 
Good. And if you are hanged afterwards 
[As she reaches the exit.| So much the better! 


[They go.] 





CELLINI 
[Glaring after her.] 

What a Madonna she would make! [He turns, 
and sees his forgotten work.| Judas accursed! [He 
springs to the anvil and begins frantically beating 
the gold. There is a knocking at the rear door.| 


A VOICE 
Open the door! 


CELLINI 
[Advancing towards the door.| 
Who’s there? 
[ Ascanto enters left. | 


ASCANIO 
It’s only Pier Landi, Master. 


CELLINI 
[Calling through the door.| 
Pier, is anybody else about? 


THE FIREBRAND M7 


THE VOICE 


No. Open the door! 


CELLINI 
[To Ascanio as he swings the bolt.] 
Idiot! Don’t stand there! Get back to your post 
and watch! 
[Ascanio eaits.] 


PIER 
[As he enters. | 
One would think you feared the Holy Brother- 
hood itself, with all your bolts and bars. 


CELLINI 
[Locking the door. | 
I must be very careful, Pier, I am in great danger. 
[Prer smiles incredulously.| Pier, as I love you, 
this is no joking matter. Before the day is over, 
I am likely to be nine feet tall. 


PIER 
In the name of the saints, what have you done, 

now? 

CELLINI 
[Brightening up. | 

Let me tell you all about it. [He takes his work 
to the table and settles himself there as he has twice 
before in relating his story.| Iwas coming through 


48 THE FIREBRAND 


the narrow street, when I noticed no less than six 
fellows standing on one side, and more on the other. 
I thought, Benvenuto, you had better look out! 
Well, sure enough, as I came up to them, I saw 
that one was Maffio! Taking the bull by the horns 
and not waiting for them to attack me, I dashed 
through the crowd, hitting and cutting until I had 
laid two of the villains dead and wounded all of 
the others. Maffio would have fled, but before he 
could do so, I caught him and stabbed him so deeply 
that I could not, for all of my strength, withdraw 
the blade, but had to leave it sticking out of him 
like a quill in a porcupine. 


PIER 
[Pointing to Cextunr’s sheath. | 
And that dagger? 


CELLINI 
| Taken aback. | 
This— Another one! 


PIER 
[ Sardonically. | 
Now I would swear that is the dagger you always 
carry ! 
CELLINI 
[Looking hard at him.] 


I said it was another. 


THE FIREBRAND 49 


PIER 
It is the same. 
CELLINI 
[In anger. | 
You doubt me? 
PIER 


No. I disbelieve you. 


CELLINI 
[ Hurt. | 


You presume on my affection. 


PIER 
Not at all. You see, I happened to witness the 
fight. 


CELLINI 
[ Collapsing. | 
Then why did you let me make a fool of myself, 
just now? 


PIER 
Because there is a quality to your lies which 
should make you immortal. They are infinitely en- 
joyable, and make me realize again what a poor 
thing truth is. 


CELLINI 
You mock me, but I did kill Maffio. 


50 THE FIREBRAND 


PIER 

I saw it, and it was bravely done. Only, there 

were no others. He was alone. Besides, I know 
you of old. 


CELLINI 
You are unjust to me. I am not a liar: I am 
a poet. A liar is a man who makes much out of 
nothing; but a poet is a man who makes more out 
of a very little. I kill one man, and say that I 
have killed three. And why not? 


PIER 
Why not, indeed? 


CELLINI 
Let me tell you, that in an age of saints, I should 
be the greatest saint of all. 


PIER 
[ Smilingly. | 
St. Anthony, I suppose, should be jealous of your 


temptations. 


CELLINI 
Yes. And St. Simon’s perch, beside my own, 
should look like a baby-chair by a throne! while the 
maggots crawling over my body should make him 
turn green with envy. But—this is no age of saints. 


THE FIREBRAND 51 


PIER 
Amen. 
CELLINI 
This is an age of braggadocios; the wildest man 
rules. Well, seeing this is my youth, I set out to 
be the greatest braggadocio of them all: I make 
my deeds prodigious! legendary! Bourbon falls 
before my shot, and Italy rings with the fame of my 
terrible deeds! 
PIER 
So much so, that you are about to be hanged. 


CELLINI 
[ Proudly. | 
There are many who would rather be hanged as 
Cellini than live as themselves. 


PIER 
Still, I fancy that you had rather live as Cellini 
than be hanged as Cellini. 


CELLINI 
[Making the sign of his fatth.]| 
God have me in his good keeping. 


PIER 

At the moment you are in the Duke’s keeping, 

and I must warn you that he has forbidden the very 
mention of your name in his presence. 


52 THE FIREBRAND 


CELLIN’ 
[ Eagerly. | 
You have seen him? 


PIER 
[ Gravely. | 
That is why I am here. 


CELLINI 
Then tell me—quickly 





PIER 
When I saw that Maffio was really dead, I has- 
tened to his Excellency and pleaded your case. But 
he had already heard of the kiling, and, would not 
listen to me. 
CELLINI 
But what were his words? 


PIER 
[ Slowly. | 
He said: “Benvenuto thinks himself above the 
law. We must teach him that he is not. We have a 
lesson which will suffice forever.” 


CELLINI 
[ Terror-stricken. | 
Those words are my death-warrant. 


THE FIREBRAND 53 





PIER 
[Strongly moved. | 
No, no, you despair too quickly. 


CELLINI 

You give me hope, but you do not believe it your- 
self. Oh, my dear Pier, do not give me hope! that 
branch that breaks over every precipice. But to 
die now, at the height of my manhood! when there 
is still marble in the earth! still gold in the furnace! 
To dangle in air where I have flown! and all because 
I rid the world of a scoundrel who killed my brother. 


PIER 
You must calm yourself. As I left the palace, I 
met the Cardinal and begged him to intercede. 


CELLINI 
The Cardinal is another villain. 


PIER 
Nevertheless, he told me that was his very mission. 


CELLINI 
The Cardinal will make a pretense of helping me, 
but he swims with the Duke’s tide. Depend upon it. 
I am lost. 
[Eminia appears at the door left.| 


ad 


54 THE FYREBRAND 





CELLINI 
[Seeing her.] 
Well? 
EMILIA 
The signorina Beatrice says that Angela will 
soon be down and asks that you have the money 
ready. 


CELLINI 
[To Pier. | 

I haven’t told you the worst. [T'o Emrzra.] Tell 
Beatrice not to worry so much about the money and 
that I grow mighty impatient. [Emr goes. | 
For weeks, Pier, I have been haunted by a love for 
Angela, my model, and only this morning I found 
that she could be mine. [Paces up and down ex- 
citedly.| But I may still cheat these rabid fates. 

[ Ascanio, white with fear, enters. | 


ASCANIO 

Master! Forgive me! The Duke— I was talk- 
ing to Emilia— The Duke is at the gate! 

[Crimi gives him a box on the ears. A fan- 

fare of trumpets sounds outside the rear 


door. | 


THE VOICE OF ANGELA 
[Calling from above.| 
Only a few minutes, Benvenuto! 
[ Another fanfare sounds. | 


THE FIREBRAND 55 


CELLINI 
[ Des pairingly. | 
Robbed before heaven! 


A VOICE 
[ Outside the door. | 
Open the door! In the name of the great Duke! 


CELLINI 
Stoned before Paradise! 


THE VOICE OUTSIDE 
Open the door! In the name of the Great Duke! 
Open the door! 

[Pizr, with a gesture of helplessness, swings 
the bolt and door. Cruuini busies himself 
at the Anvil. Ascanto looks on with wonder. 
Enter AxrEssanpro, Duke or FLorence, 
preceded and surrounded by his courtiers, 
including Orraviano and Potverino. The 
Duke its about Creiuinr’s age. Among his 
own countrymen his swarthy skin has earned 
him the sobriquet of “The Moor.” This base 
man, this bastard Medici who was no Medici, 
has features which are at once either sullen 
or childishly alive. At the moment, he ts not 
up to the mark of his usual capacity for 
cruelty; he does not even relish the necessity 
of hanging Cetuint. The Duxg, in fact, is 


56 THE FIREBRAND 





in a mood for pleasure, and it is not unlikely 
that he will gratify his mood to excess during 
the next twenty-four hours. There is first 
the annoyance of Cr.utnt, unfortunately. | 


THE DUKE 
[Scathingly. ] 
Cellini. 
CELLINI 
My poor house is more than honored by the pres- 
ence of Your Excellency. 


THE DUKE 
Your poor house would be more than honored by 
the presence of any peaceful man. 


POLVERINO 
Capital, My Lord, capital! 
[Murmurs of applause from the others. | 


CELLINI 
[Looking at Potverro. | 
I fear that Your Excellency has been listening 
to my enemies. 
THE DUKE 
Your crimes are your enemies. 


CELLINI 
My Lord, you are angry with me tnjustly. 


THE FIREBRAND 57 





THE DUKE 
[To his courtiers. | 
Observe! he does not hesitate to rebuke even me. 
[Murmurs against Cetumnt. The Duxr addresses 
him.| It is for us to judge the justice of our acts. 


CELLINI 

Your Excellency speaks truly, and for that very 
reason, your justice should lie beyond your anger, 
in the realms of your high intelligence. 


POLVERINO 
[At the Duxer’s side]. 
My Lord, will you listen longer to this outrageous 
fellow? 
CELLINI 
[To Potverino. | 
Is it outrageous to believe that His Excellency 
has high intelligence? 


POLVERINO 
I won’t bandy words with you. 


CELLINI 
Of course not: you lack the wit. 


THE DUKE 
[As Potverrino is about to reply. | 
Silence! We are here to put an end to argu- 


58 THE FIREBRAND 





ments, not to begin them. [J’o Cruurm1.] You 
would teach me, then, my duty? 


CELLINI 
My Lord, you read offenses into my words which 
are not there. 
THE DUKE 
Your offenses are everywhere. 


CELLINI 
On the tongues of my enemies. But I protest 
that I am a peaceful man. 


| POLVERINO 
Your homicides are notorious, 


CELLINI 
[ Dangerously. | 
You would not dare to say that except in the 
presence of My Lord! 


THE DUKE 
[To CeLuint. | 
Am I to take that as proof of your peaceful 
nature? 
CELLINI 
I try to pattern myself too much after Your 
Excellency to be peaceful when I am insulted. 


THE FIREBRAND 59 





POLVERINO 


My Lord 





THE DUKE 
[ Pleased, to Potverino. | 
Come now, admit it was neatly said! 


POLVERINO 
Does my Lord forget this morning’s murder? 


THE DUKE 
[To Cetun, frowning deeply. | 
Our lenience to you in the past has been greater 
than that extended to any other of our subjects, 
for we valued your service and gifts. You have 
repaid our lenience by mocking it. 


CELLINI 
[ Fervently. | 
If that were true, no dungeon would be deep 
enough to rot me, no tree high enough to swing 
me. 


THE DUKE 
Only a short while ago, we pardoned a grave 
crime, on condition that you keep the peace. 


. CELLINI 
With all gratitude, I remember. 


60 THE FIREBRAND 


THE DUKE 

In a strange, rough way, then. This morning, 
in broad daylight, you spilled blood on the streets 
of Florence, once again. 


CELLINI 
But in self-defense, my Lord. 


. THE DUKE 
The time for leniency is past. 


CELLINI 
My Lord, all that I ask is, that having heard my 


enemies, you hear me. 


THE DUKE 


We hear Maffio, also. 


CELLINI 


My Lord, he attacked me. 


THE DUKE 


We have heard differently. 


CELLINI 
[ Dramatically. | 
Attacked me, my Lord, with a whole regiment 
of villains at his heels! 


THE FIREBRAND 61 


THE DUKE 
[To Prer. | 
You were there. Was there a regiment of them? 


PIER 
There was, my Lord. 


THE DUKE 
Come, now; on your honor? 


PIER 
[ Hesitant. | 
Well . . . perhaps not a regiment— [More de- 
cisively.| But enough of them. 


POLVERINO 
My Lord, he loves Cellini. 


CELLINI 
My Lord, are only those who hate me, to speak 
of me? 


THE DUKE 
Enough! I know my mind. 


CELLINI 
[Throwing himself on his knees. | 


62 THE FIREBRAND 


My Lord: I beseech you to give me leave to go 
to France. 


THE DUKE 
The King of France is my friend, and I will not 
wish you on him; within a week, his dominions would 
be in an uproar. I might put you in prison; but 
what’s the use? When you are put in prison, you 
break out! There is, however, a prison from which 
there is no escape. Therefore, Cellini, in full jus- 





tice, I sentence you to 
[As the Duxer is about to pronounce the 
fateful sentence, his eye catches ANGELA, as 
she appears in the door with Beatrice. In 
a twinkling, his whole demeanor changes; his 
gravity falls away, his eye sparkles, and 
he forgets completely what he has been say- 
ing. The courtiers, astonished, turn to see 
what has distracted him, and exchange smiles 
among themselves. CELLINI, dazed, rises 
from his knees. | 


THE DUKE 
[With a smile to Cre Lutnt. | 
This must be your masterpiece. 


CELLINI 
[Glad at the respite. | 
She is my model, Your Excellency. 


THE FIREBRAND 63 


THE DUKE 
The ancients never had such inspiration! [T'o 
Anceta.| What is your name, my child? 


ANGELA 


Angela, my Lord. 


| THE DUKE 
[To CELuin1. | 
Has she a lover, Benvenuto? 


CELLINI 
[ Confused. | 
No, My Lord. 


THE COURTIERS 
[Among themselves. | 
Did you hear? He called him Benvenuto! On 
my word he did! [Etc.] 
THE DUKE 
[To ANGELA. | 
Come over to me, my child. 


BEATRICE 
[Pushing ANGELA. | 
Quick! Quick! Over to him! he said. 
[AncELa comes down, center stage, while BEa- 
TRICE, jumping with excitement, remains by 
the door. | 


64 THE FIREBRAND 


THE DUKE 
Do you like me, Angela? 


ANGELA 
Yes, My Lord. 


THE DUKE 
[ Delighted. | 
“My Lord!” [To his gentlemen.| Would that 
all my subjects looked like her! [70 Ancrza.| Has 
anyone ever told you that you were adorable? 


ANGELA 
Yes, My Lord. 


THE DUKE 
[ Playfully. ] 
But you haven’t listened to them? 


ANGELA 
[Not knowing what to say.| 
Yes, My Lord. 
BEATRICE 


[From the door. | 
She means, no, My Lord! 


THE DUKE 
[To Beatrice. | 
Who are you? 


THE FIREBRAND 65 


BEATRICE 
Her mother, Your Excellency. 


THE DUKE 
[Glancing from one to the other.| 
Nonsense! There must be some mistake! [T7'o 
AnceEta.]| Is she really your mother? 


ANGELA 
Yes, My Lord. 


THE DUKE 
How peculiar! She looks like a goat—doesn’t 
she? 
BEATRICE 


If you say so, My Lord. 


THE DUKE 
[To ANGELA. | 
While you... [Overcome in his admiration. ] 
Well, you certainly don’t look like a goat. I have 
taken quite a fancy to you. [PoLverino whispers 
in the Duxe’s ear. The DvuxeE answers him with 
pleasure.| By all means! By all means! [Pot- 
VERINO crosses to Beatrice. The Duxt to An- 
GELA.| How would you like me to take you away 
from here? 
POLVERINO 
[Slipping a purse to Beatrice while ANGELA 
struggles for a reply to the Dux. | 


66 THE FIREBRAND 


His Excellency desires to show your daughter the 
Summer Palace. 
ANGELA 
[To the Duxg, finally. | 
I am very happy here, My Lord. 


BEATRICE 
[Zo Potverino. | 
That this honor should come to me! 


THE DUKE 
[“The thing is settled.” | 
You will be happier with me. 


CELLINI 
[In an agony of emotion. | 
Your Excellency 





THE DUKE 
[To Crit, forcing a serious expression. | 
Silence! I am considering your case. 
[He smiles gayly at Ancrua and strokes her 
hair. | 
BEATRICE 
[To PotveErino. | 
I'll run upstairs and throw a few things together. 
[As she goes, Emrtia enters and stands in 
wide-eyed awe at the gathering. | 


THE FIREBRAND 67 


THE DUKE 
[To ANGELA. | 
You will like the Summer Palace. 


ANGELA 
My Lord, I am very happy here. 


THE DUKE 
Do not say that again. You will displease me. 


CELLINI 
[In a sweat. | 
But, My Lord, it is impossible! 


THE DUKE 
[Not believing his ears. | 
What do you say? 


CELLINI 
She is my model. I must have her for my work. 


THE DUKE 
[Deciding to be good-humored. | 
Then get another model! 


CELLINI 
But I have half-finished a statue for which she is 


posing! 


68 THE FIREBRAND 


THE DUKE 
[To ANGELA. | 
Does Cellini cross you. in everything, as he does 
me? 
ANGELA 
He has been good to me. 


CELLINI 





Your Excellency: 


OTTAVIANO 
[Emerging from the crowd, aside to Ceuutnt. | 
Be still, you fool! Don’t you see that the girl has 
saved you? 
CELLINI 
[Brushing him aside. | 
My Lord, the girl is attached to me. 


THE DUKE 
I am glad to hear it. Since she has an affectionate 
nature, she will become attached to me. 


ANGELA 
My Lord, I do not desire to go. 


THE DUKE 
You do not desire to go? 


ANGELA 
I am happy here, I have friends. 


THE FIREBRAND 69 





THE DUKE 

Is that all? Well, then, we shall take your friends 
with us. [He spies Emritia.] Is that one of your 
friends? [AwncELa inclines her head.] 


THE DUKE 
[To Emr. | 
Come here, my child. [Emria, transfixed, never- 
theless manages to reach the Duxxr.| What is your 
name, little one? 
EMILIA 


Emilia, My Lord. 


THE DUKE 
Emilia, you are to come to the Summer Palace 
with Angela. Do you understand? 


EMILIA 
Yes, My Lord. 


THE DUKE 

[To AncELA as Emiria clasps her.| 

There: now you have your friend and you will not 
be lonely. 
ANGELA 

[ Obstinately. | 
I am very happy here, My Lord. 

[Beatrice enters and hears AncEta.] 


70 THE FIREBRAND 


THE DUKE 
[ Perplexed. | 
But what is there here that you will not have at 
the Palace? 
BEATRICE 
Nothing, My Lord, nothing! The girl doesn’t 
know her own good. 


THE DUKE 
[To ANGELA. ] 

Aha! It is your mother that you want. Well, 
she shall come along, too. [To Brarricre.| To 
your daughter, goat-face! [Brarricr goes to An- 
GELA and surreptitiously pinches her. The Duke 
rubs his hands with satisfaction.| And now, every- 
thing is arranged. Let us go. 


POLVERINO 
My Lord, you forget Maffio. 


THE DUKE 
The deuce! Of course, I never can remember any- 
thing. [To Cetuint.] Have you finished that medal 
for me? 
CELLINI 


It is under way, My Lord. 


THE DUKE 
Well, I can’t hang you until it is finished, that’s 
certain. Ottaviano, where’s Ottaviano? 


THE FIREBRAND 71 





OTTAVIANO 


[Stepping forward. | 
Here, Alessandro. 


THE DUKE 
I have delayed too long. Stay behind and show 
the design you have made for the medal’s reverse. 


OTTAVIANO 
It is an interesting design, Cousin. 


THE DUKE 
Really? Walk a few steps and tell me about it. 
I want to be sure that the design is worthy of me. 
Cellini will await your return. Ready? 


POLVERINO 


My Lord, you still forget—Cellini. 


THE DUKE 

Of course—again. Just like me. Cellini! It is 
our command that you do not leave Florence— 
[With a glance at Ancrta.| No, that you do not 
leave this house, until our final judgment is ren- 


dered. 


CELLINI 
You are very good, My Lord. 


72 THE FIREBRAND 


THE DUKE 

Not at all. I shall probably hang you yet. You 
deserve it. And now, forward. [Ewit the soldiers, 
then Berarricr, Emizia and Anceta.|] Gentle- 
men 





PIER 
[ Aside to CELuint. | 
I go with the Duke to do what I can. 


THE DUKE 
Gentlemen: About this little matter of Angela. 
. . . It will not be necessary to mention it to the 
Duchess. 
[The Courtiers signify that they understand. 
The Dvuxe passes out. OrTtTaviano, Pot- 
VERINO, Prer and Covurtirrs follow. CEL- 
LInI 18 left in the foreground; AscaNnio runs 
up the steps and watches his disappearing 
love. | 


ASCANIO 
Emilia! 
CELLINI 
[ Wildly, as the last courtier exits. | 
Angela! O! that I had my hands on Polverino’s 
throat! 
[He gives an inarticulate cry, and overcome by 
his feelings, goes. Ascanio, after a doubtful 
moment, makes a grave decision and bolts, 


THE FIREBRAND 73 





right rear. But in a moment his voice is 
heard protestingly. | 


ASCANIO’S VOICE 
Let me pass. 


A VOICE 
[Sternly. | 
Back, I said, back you go! 
[Ascanio, prodded by the sword of a SouvieEr, 
is forced into the room. | 


ASCANIO 
[Between pleading and objecting. |] 
You have no right—the Duke’s orders are to hold 
my master here, not me. 
[He draws a small dagger. | 


THE SOLDIER 
[Roughly, advancing with his sword.| 
Put down that pin! 
[Ascanio, in fright, drops behind the work- 
bench. The Soupier exiting, salutes OTTAVI- 
ano, as the latter returns. | 


OTTAVIANO 
[Displeased at his reception. | 
Cellini! Where are you, Cellini? 
[CeLxir1 comes in bearing an urn.] 


74 THE FIREBRAND 


CELLINI 
Sir, you must pardon my absence, but I desired 
to be alone for a while. 


OTTAVIANO 
When we desire to be alone, we are generally 
sorrowful. 
CELLINI 
[ Smolderingly. | 
Sorrowful? No, sir, I was dreaming that I had 
my hands on Polverino’s throat. 


OTTAVIANO 
Polverino? ‘The Duke’s procurer. A foul fel- 


low, a stinking fellow. 


CELLINI 
[Breaking loose. | 
Do I not procure beauty for His Excellency? 
Do I not pander loveliness to him? Yes—but no 
more! 
[He smashes the urn on the floor. | 


OTTAVIANO 
Cellini, I want to tell you what I have in mind 
for the Duke’s reverse. 


CELLINI 
[Studying him.] 
The medal’s reverse, sir. 


THE FIREBRAND 15 


OTTAVIANO 
Of course. By the way, can we be heard from 
‘tthe house? 
CELLINI 
The walls of this house are strong enough to keep 
out the noise of this shop. 


OTTAVIANO 
Good. Then let me tell you that I have high 
hopes of fulfilling the Duke’s command: to create 
a design worthy of him. 
| He draws his hand across his throat in sinister 
fashion. | 
CELLINI 
[ Starting. | 
Sir, there is danger in that design. 


OTTAVIANO 
Not necessarily. Let me tell you more about 
this. 
CELLINI 


I shall be delighted to hear. 


OTTAVIANO 
Cellini, I just thought of a curious thing which 
happened last week in the city. A man was found 
dead, with a great gash in his head. Perhaps you 


heard of it? 


76 THE FIREBRAND 


CELLINI 
Pier mentioned something of the matter. 


OTTAVIANO 
I knew the man, slightly; a charming fellow, with 
an innumerable number of indecent stories; but dur- 
ing my too-brief acquaintance with him, I discov- 
ered that he had one grave fault; he was indiscreet. 
On my word—indiscreet. 


CELLINI 
He told things? 


OTTAVIANO 
Oh, they were harmless enough things .. . but 
still, don’t you think that he was a very silly fellow? 


, CELLINI 
An absurd fellow, sir. 


OTTAVIANO 
I knew that you should agree with me. Now, 
about this design, for the medal. It is in the form 
of a knife. 
CELLINI 
A sharp idea 





OTTAVIANO 





Hilt up 


——— |S) 


THE FIREBRAND 77 











CELLINI 
For heaven 
OTTAVIANO 
Point down 
CELLINI 
For hell 
OTTAVIANO 


And a strong arm behind it! 


CELLINI 

A masterful conception! A noble conception! 
But with all my skill at my craft, I do not see how 
the design can be carried out. 


OTTAVIANO 
The process is a simple one. I furnish the out- 
line and you furnish . . . the metal. 
CELLINI 
And then? 
OTTAVIANO 


Why, when the thing is ready, you strike. 


CELLINI 
Where? 
) OTTAVIANO 
[Laying his hand on his heart.] 
Here. 


718 THE FIREBRAND 





CELLINI 
[ Admiringly. | 


Sir, you are a subtle man. 


OTTAVIANO 
| Deprecatingly. | 
Quite plain-spoken, I assure you. 


CELLINI 
You are too modest. 


OTTAVIANO 
By nomeans. There are matters, after all, which 
require us to be subtle before we can express them 
intelligently. Otherwise, they might appear crude, 
and perhaps even improper! Indeed, it is not too 
much to say, about such matters, that when one is 
most subtle, one is most plain-spoken. Thus, a com- 
mon man, with a certain thought in his head, might 
say— [In a sudden, terrible voice.| My brother 
must die! 
CELLINI 
Sir, I had a brother once. I loved him with all 
my soul. 
OTTAVIANO 
And it does you credit. I, too, love my brother ; 
I would not harm a hair on his head! Therefore, 


wishing him long life, I say— [Jn the same terrible | 


voice.| The Duke must die! 


4 
: 





THE FIREBRAND 79 


CELLINI 
And you find a difference in the words? 


OTTAVIANO 
A profound difference: for the Duke dies, but my 


brother lives on . . . in my heart. 


CELLINI 
He cannot wine, dine, or embrace his loves there! 


OTTAVIANO 

Se long as I do all those things, he does them 
with me. For the little of life that he loses, we 
give him eternity; while the violence of his end as- 
sures him of forgiveness for his sins, which otherwise 
might damn him. 


CELLINI 
In short, we do him a favor. 


OTTAVIANO 
A lasting favor. And there you see, that what 
in a common light might appear a cruel business, 
is in reality a generous act. 


CELLINI 
Sir, I am only a poor sculptor, and must fear 
the consequences of a generous act which is also an 
act of treason. 


80 THE FIREBRAND 


OTTAVIANO 
Your fears are unnecessary. Treason is the re- 
bellion of a subject against the justly powerful: 
When one of the powerful himself undertakes to 
rule, it is not treason, but an act of virtue. 


CELLINI 
A virtue? Of what nature? 


OTTAVIANO 

Of the nature of courage: because he exercises 
boldly one of the attributes of his royalty; to domi- 
nate. Here again, you see that what in a common 
light might appear to be an act of treason, is in 
reality in thorough accord with the laws of society. 
And how fortunately! Since the death of the duke 
is to my advantage, and even more to your own. 


CELLINI 
I think it is more to your advantage, Sir, than 
to mine. 
OTTAVIANO 
On the contrary, for if the Duke lives, I live, but 
you will certainly die. 


CELLINI 


And if you succeed, I die. 


OTTAVIANO 
Give me one good reason! 





THE FIREBRAND 81 





CELLINI 
You will not need a good reason. 


OTTAVIANO 
Hang the man who helped me gain power? 


CELLINI 
That will be your reason. 


OTTAVIANO 
A strange one! 
CELLINI 

Then, again, you will see my execution is not— 
as might appear in a common light—an act of 
treachery, but an act of justice, since in murdering 
the Duke, I disobeyed your wishes, and murdered 
your brother as well. i 


OTTAVIANO 
I should keep you with me as one of the stars of 
my reign. 
CELLINI 
One of the stars that droop in the morning sky. 


OTTAVIANO 
Cellini, you have changed your tone! 
a 
CELLINI 
I protest, Sir, I have not. 


82 THE FIREBRAND 


OTTAVIANO 
[In a cold rage. | 
Cellini, you have played with me. You must pro- 
ceed with the design. 


CELLINI 
I am always ready to proceed with the design, 
for the Duke’s medal. 


OTTAVIANO 
If the Duke lives, you shall be hanged twice; once 
by him, and once by me. 


CELLINI 
If I am under the Duke’s arrest, I am also under 
his protection, Sir. 


OTTAVIANO 
The Duke is an ass. And you are a fool! 


CELLINI 
Sir, I have been remembering who you are. But 
you impugn my honor. 


OTTAVIANO 
[ Sincerely. | 
Fellows like yourself are not called upon to have 
honor. That rests with me and my sort. 


THE FIREBRAND 83 


CELLINI 
Sir, Florence was named after one of my family. 


OTTAVIANO 
[Staggering back. | 
What! Nothunder? No lightning? Still there? 
Then there is no God! 


CELLINI 
My house is honored by your presence, Sir, but 
my dinner waits. 


OTTAVIANO 
And so must your appetite. For I must tell you, 
that when you are hanged, and the Duke is tired of 
Angela, I shall enjoy her. 


CELLINI 
[ Half-drawing his blade. 
This is unbearable. 


OTTAVIANO 

It is death to touch that in the presence of a 
Medici. Come now, be sensible. [As he turns to go, 
Ceiuint again half-pulls his dagger.| 'Think it over! 
I shall drop back in an hour or so. Cellini, there 
was a man found dead in the city, last week, with 
a great gash in his head. There was no inquiry. 
[Orraviano pushes Cr.uini’s dagger back in place. 


84 THE FIREBRAND 


He walks to the rear door and looks out on the scene, 
which has darkened a little.| Ah! The sun and 
moon are both in the sky: It will be a beautiful 
evening. Cellini, come here! [Crxurn1, after hesi- 
tating, crosses to him. Ascanio takes advantage of 
the clear foreground to dart out.| Look out there, 
my friend; don’t you feel how good a thing it is to 
be alive? To see that moon rising like a silver 
ghost from the burning grave of the sun? Think of 
it—not to see the evening or the morning! Not to 
hunt the spirit lost in nature—not to touch warm 
flesh—but to be wrapped forever in a hideous fu- 
tility! We’re wise to hold on to things as long as 
we can! And yet, there are fools who throw all this 
away out of sheer pig-headedness! I can’t abide 
them. Well, a good appetite and expect me later. 
[He goes, with a gracious wave of his hand.]| 


CELLINI 
[To himself.] 
Swine ! 
ASCANIO 
[Running in from left breathlessly. | 
Master—The Duchess is here—she’s coming 
through the house—— 


CELLINI 
[Closing the rear door.| 
The Duchess! 


THE FIREBRAND 85 


[Enter the Ducuerss of Florence, and several 
of her ladies. The Ducuess is not good- 
looking, in any conventional sense; but she ts 
an imperious, charming woman. . .. As- 
cANIo exits. The Ducurss acknowledges 
CEeLuini’s obeisance with a frown. | 


THE DUCHESS 
[Left center. | 
I hear that you have been disgracing yourself 
again, Cellini. 


CELLINI 
[Right center. | 
If I am in disgrace with My Lady, then I must 
have done something wrong. But I cannot imagine 
what it can be. 


THE DUCHESS 

Cannot imagine! A firebrand fighting in the 

streets with a knife like any other ruffian. Fine play 
for a man of your talents! 


CELLINI 


I thank Your Ladyship. 


THE DUCHESS 
Has that husband of mine been here? 


86 THE FIREBRAND 


CELLINI 


He has, My Lady. 


THE DUCHESS 


When are you to be hanged? 


CELLINI 
Unfortunately I don’t know, My Lady. His Ex- 
cellency has forbidden me to leave the house until 
final judgment is rendered. It is very hard on me. 


THE DUCHESS 
I am surprised. The Duke left me with the in- 
tention of hanging you. [Swspiciously.| There 
must have been a woman around. Was there? 


CELLINI 
[Lying nobly. | 
No, My Lady. 


THE DUCHESS 
It is generally a woman that distracts him. But 
it does not become me to talk to such a badly-be- 
haved specimen as yourself. 


CELLINI 
I am sorry at your anger, My Lady. 


THE FIREBRAND 87 


THE DUCHESS 
You may be, for I have no use for you—none at 
all. I came here to show these ladies that exquisite 
salt-cellar which you have been making for me. 
Where is it? 


| CELLINI 
In the other workshop, downstairs, Madam. I 
will have it brought here at once. 


THE DUCHESS 
Nothing of the sort. Let the ladies see it in its 
native setting. Who will show it to them? 


CELLINI 

My apprentice, Your Excellency. Ascanio! [The 

latter appears.| Show these ladies the salt-cellar. 
[ Ascanio exits with them. | 


THE DUCHESS 
[Dropping her severe air as abruptly as did 
the Duxr when he saw ANGELA. | 
And now, my dear Benvenuto, I can forget that 
I am the Duchess. 


CELLINI 
My Lady overpowers me. 


88 THE FIREBRAND 


THE DUCHESS 
I can remember that I am a woman. 


CELLINI 
[ Gallantly. | 
It is one of Your Ladyship’s glories. 


THE DUCHESS 
You were pleased by my calling you... Ben- 


venuto? 


CELLINI 
Infinitely pleased. 


THE DUCHESS 
One would not think that I afforded you infinite 
pleasure from your actions towards me. 


CELLINI 
[Nervously gallant. ] 
I never make a beautiful thing without thinking 
of My Lady. 


THE DUCHESS 

Benvenuto, have you ever noticed that when vou 

are near me, I do not always treat you as if I were 
the Duchess? 


THE FIREBRAND 89 


CELLINI 
[Resolved to be obtuse. | 
No, My Lady. 


THE DUCHESS 
Then you are a nincompoop. 


CELLINI 
My father was also of that opinion. He desired 
me to study the accursed flute—— 


THE DUCHESS 
Drat your father! I am interested in you. 


CELLINI 
Your Ladyship is good to me beyond my wildest 
dreams. 


THE DUCHESS 
I was annoyed with you, today. You sent to the 
Cardinal and begged him to intercede for you. 


CELLINI 
A drowning man will clutch at a straw. 


THE DUCHESS 
There are firmer reeds for you to lean on. Why 
did you not send to me? 


90 THE FIREBRAND 


CELLINI 
I dared not hope so high. 


THE DUCHESS 
Then you are not the man I took you for, Benve- 
nuto. You have a good friend in me. 


CELLINI 
Had I only known! 


THE DUCHESS 
You might have a better friend, in me. 


CELLINI 


What shall I do, My Lady? 


THE DUCHESS 
Stop pretending to be a fool. 


CELLINI 
[ After a pause. | 
I dare not, My Lady. 


THE DUCHESS 
Benvenuto, are you afraid? 


CELLINI 
Not at all, My Lady. Life is not easy: if we are 
lucky, we are offered, and perhaps only once, gifts 


THE FIREBRAND SL 





so precious that not to take them seems blasphemous. 
Our blood leaps up, and our hands, our hearts, reach 
out ... and there we must stop. 


THE DUCHESS 
And pray, why, if not in fear? 


CELLINI 
Because of that little part of our soul which we 
call, “Shonor.” 


THE DUCHESS 
[Indignantly. | 
Honor, indeed! Your masculine metaphysics are 
enough to turn an honest woman’s stomach. Honor! 
that shining name which men use to cover their 
cowardice. Faugh! I am disappointed in you. 


CELLINI 
What can I say that will atone? 


THE DUCHESS 
Nothing. Your first love was a chisel and your 
last will be a hammer. 


CELLINI 
My Lady, you wrong me. I am capable of great 
love. 


92 THE FIREBRAND 


THE DUCHESS 

You? Never! It is the tragedy of great ladies to 
discover that great men make poor lovers. They 
do not love women; they use them. That is why 
we generally marry half-wits. 


CELLINI 
It is a very tempting challenge that you make, 
My Lady. 
THE DUCHESS 
I meant to take you with me to the Summer 
Palace, to devise a decoration for the fountain. 


CELLINI 
[ Starting. |] 


The Summer Palace! 


THE DUCHESS 
Yes, the Duke asked me to go, this morning, and 
I said I would not. But I have changed my mind; 
I shall be there tonight. 


CELLINI 
That will be a joyful surprise for him, I’m sure. 


THE DUCHESS 
He was happy when I said no. What do you 
say? Will you come down... to look at the 
fountain? 


THE FIREBRAND 93 





CELLINI 
The Duke has bound me to my house. 


THE DUCHESS 
I will protect you. 


CELLINI 
My Lady, I will risk all to get to the Summer 
Palace!— [As an afterthought.| For you. [He 
kisses her hand. | 


THE DUCHESS 
Spoken like a man! [She takes a key out of her 
bosom.| You know the balcony?— My door? 


CELLINI 
I have gazed up at it a thousand times in deso- 
lation. 
THE DUCHESS 
We shall console you for that, tonight. 
[She hands him the key. Then, as he kisses her 
hand, and is about to kiss her on the lips, 
Tue Lapis reénter. | 


FIRST LADY 
[To the DucueEss. | 
Madam, that little thing will be the wonder of 
the ages. 


94 THE FIREBRAND 


SECOND LADY 


[To CEeLxinI. | 
It would grace the table of Lucullus. 


THE DUCHESS 
[ Severely. | 
Do not spoil him with your compliments; he does 
not deserve them; he is a wicked man. I have just 
been giving him a piece of my mind. Cellini, I go; 
mind what I have said. 


CELLINI 
To the last syllable, My Lady. 
[He bows them out, right rear. Taking the 
key from his pocket, he looks at it—smil- 


ingly. | 


ACT II 


It is quite dark, as the curtain rises, and a 
song is heard. The scene imperceptibly lightens 
until we see an exquisite spot im a garden, 
flanked in the center and left-rear by a high 
stone wall, while adjoining this, left, is a gate 
which leads into other portions of the garden of 
the Summer Palace. A path runs, left and 
right, and leads, right, to the Palace. It is 
ANGELA who is singing the song which we have 
heard, and she is seated with Emixi1a on a bench 
to the left-front of the wall. The moonlight 
falls profusely on the bench; elsewhere, the 
greenery lies in shadow except for stray beams. 
ANGELA finishes her song and both girls sigh 
deeply. 

EMILIA 
[ At last. ] 
You shouldn’t have sung. They might have heard. 


ANGELA 
I couldn’t helping singing. I felt so sad. I don’t 
know why. 
EMILIA 
It was a lovely song. It made me think about 


things . . . that I couldn’t think about. 
95 


96 THE FIREBRAND 


ANGELA 
When I sing, I feel as if something were healing in 
me, while my heart is breaking. 


EMILIA 
Don’t you think we’d better go back? We must, 
soon, or they’ll be looking for us. 


ANGELA 
Not yet. Let us sit a while and dream... of 
things that aren’t. 


EMILIA 
When you talk that way, you make me think of 
Ascanio. I don’t want to think of him. 


ANGELA 
[Smiling faintly. | 
Not at all? 
| EMILIA , 
. ... IT really want to think of him all the time. 
ANGELA 


And I remember the Master—Benvenuto. 


EMILIA 
[ Sharply. | 
You mustn’t remember him. Heisabad man. He 


kills people right and left. 


THE FIREBRAND 97 





ANGELA 
He was good to me. 


EMILIA 
Because he wanted you. 


ANGELA 
I know. And sometimes, I would like... 


EMILIA 
You haven’t gone and fallen in love with him? 


ANGELA 
[| Shaking her head. | 
I am not in love with him. I am not in love with 
anybody. I wish that I were. I should like to know 
what it means to love. 


EMILIA 
[ Scandalized. | 


Haven’t you ever been in love? 


ANGELA 

Never. When men come to me, like the Master, 
with such a strange look in their eyes, I wonder at 
them. 

KG EMILIA 

I have been in love, often. 


98 THE FIREBRAND 


ANGELA 
How often? 
EMILIA 
Let me see. There was... of course! And 
there was—but he doesn’t count, he only lasted a 
day. And... yes. ... Well, four times before 
Ascanio. With him, ten, because he counts twice as 
much as all the others. 


ANGELA 
[Rather wistfully. | 
And how does it feel, to fall in love? 


EMILIA 
Sometimes, as if you were lying on those clouds, 
up there in the skies. 


ANGELA 
That must be delightful. 


EMILIA 
Sometimes, as if you had picked up a purse in the 
street and found it full of ducats. 


ANGELA 
That must be joyful. 


EMILIA 
But sometimes, as if you had hit your thumb— 
hard—with a hammer. 


THE FIREBRAND 99 


ANGELA 
That must be painful. 


EMILIA 
Oh, it is! You swear never to fall in love again. 
But then—the thumb heals, and before you know it, 
bang! You have hit it with another hammer. 


ANGELA 

That’s silly. 

EMILIA | 

It seems so, but it isn’t. . . When you were 
singing, I dreamed that I was up there, on those 
clouds. Ascanio was behind me, on another cloud, 
and he was trying to catch me, but I kept a little 
ahead of him, all the while. 


ANGELA 
I have never been in love, but I understand that. 
I like men to chase me. 


EMILIA 

. Then he began calling me names, but I 
only laughed at him. So he changed his tune, and 
begged me to stop. I did stop, but just when he 
could have stepped onto my cloud—TI pushed it away, 
and was off again! 

ANGELA 
I understand that, too, although it was cruel. 


100 THE FIREBRAND 





EMILIA 
I don’t know why it is, but it is pleasant to be cruel 
to the man you love. 


ANGELA 
To all men. 
EMILIA 
But in the end, you see, you are not cruel. You 
take his face between your hands and kiss him on 
the mouth—long . . . And, then you run away 
again. 
ANGELA 
That is cruel, too. 


EMILIA 
Yes, but he is glad to be miserable, because he has 
the joy of catching you again. 


ANGELA 
But some of them run away from you. 


EMILIA 
Sure, all of them do. But I go after them. 


ANGELA 
Far? 


EMILIA 
To the end of the world. 


THE FIREBRAND 101 


ANGELA 
I have made men love me. . . Would you throw 
your arms around a man who didn’t want you? 


EMILIA 
Certainly . . . for then he would want me. 


ANGELA 
I’ve tried to fall in love with all the men I have 
known ... with the Master ... with the Duke. 
And if they are good-looking, they are all the same 
to me. 
EMILIA 
I think your mother has put the Evil Eye on you. 


ANGELA 

Perhaps that is it! She leaned over me in my 
cradle and put the Evil Eye on me. [They cross 
themselves.| I have wished ... sometimes, that 
my mother was dead. 


EMILIA 
You’d be better off. 


ANGELA 
Do you think it wicked? 


EMILIA 
Yes, but I’d wish it, too, if I were you. 


102 THE FIREBRAND 


ANGELA 
Perhaps if she were dead, I should learn to love. 


EMILIA 
That might kill the Evil Eye. 


ANGELA 
I will pray that she dies. 


EMILIA 
[ Scared. | 
No, not now! 
ANGELA 
O Lord! if my mother must die before I can begin 
to love . . . do not let her live. 


| EMILIA 
I wish you had waited . . . when I wasn’t around. 
... [With a little scream.] Sh-sh! Someone’s 
coming. 
ANGELA 
Where? 
EMILIA 
[ Pointing, right. | 
Don’t you see? 
ANGELA 
Men. 
EMILIA 
Let’s run. 


THE FIREBRAND 103 


ANGELA 
It’s too late. We’re seen. 


EMILIA 
[ Clutching her. | 
And they’re soldiers! 


POLVERINO’S VOICE 
[Off, right. ] 
My Lord, I’m sure it’s Angela. 
[Enter the Duxe and Gentlemen, including 
PoLveErino. | 


THE DUKE 
Is that you, Angela? 


ANGELA 
It is, My Lord. 


THE DUKE 
What a start you have given me! We thought 
you had fled. 
ANGELA 
My Lord, it was stuffy inside; we came out for the 
air. 
THE DUKE 
You came out late, then. Your mother thought 
that Cellini had kidnaped you, and I swore to hang 
him in the morning. Polverino, remind me not to 


104 THE FIREBRAND 





hang him; otherwise I shall forget. Let me see— 
there was something else I had to say; what was it? 


POLVERINO 





My Lord 
[Whispers in his ear.] 


THE DUKE 
That was it. [Admiringly.| Ido wish that I had 
a memory like yours, Polverino: I should hang more 
people than Ido. [T7’o Ancreta.] He has told me. 
So great was your mother’s excitement, when you 
could not be found, that she had a stroke. 


EMILIA 
Oh !—— 
. | ANGELA 
[ Stunned. | 
She is not dead? 
THE DUKE 
[ Uninterested. | 
Not yet, I believe. 
ANGELA 


You mean ... she will die? 


THE DUKE 
[Shrugging his shoulder. ] 


THE FIREBRAND 105 


Not likely. She looks like a goat and will prob- 
ably climb the rocks of her sickness as if she were 
one. In fact, I think that she is one. 


ANGELA 
I must go to her. 


THE DUKE 

You must stay here, with me. There is nothing 

that you can do for her; she is well taken care of. 
Polverino will bring us word if there is any change. 


POLVERINO 
On the instant, My Lord. 


THE DUKE 
Gentlemen. 
[They are dismissed, and go.| 


ANGELA 
[ Pausing. | 
My Lord ... when was my mother stricken? 


THE DUKE 

Just before we found you. We had been racking 
the palace for your fair forms. When you were 
nowhere to be seen, the old lady gave a cry and 
dropped down as though struck by a bolt from 


heaven. 


106 THE FIREBRAND 





EMILIA 
[Breaking into a mounting wail. | 
Oh, Angela! Did you hear what he said? 


THE DUKE 
[ Astonished. | 
What’s wrong with it? I thought it rather elo- 
quent, myself. [Z'’o Ancreta.] One would think it 
were her mother, and not yours, the way you both 
behave. 
ANGELA 
[ Quickly. | 
It is not that, My Lord. Your presence frightens 
her. 
THE DUKE 
[ Pleased. | 
Does it, now? Really? [Patting Enmtrta.] 
There’s no necessity to carry on so. Even if I am 
the Duke, I’m not a bad fellow. 


ANGELA 
My Lord, you frightened me, also, this morning. 


THE DUKE 
[More than pleased. | 
Did I, now? Really? But you have learned not 
to be afraid of me? 


ANGELA 
Yes, My Lord. 


ft 


THE FIREBRAND 107 


THE DUKE 

You know, I’m particularly glad that you take 
this matter of your mother so sensibly. [With 
wholly unconscious egoism.| I was rather afraid it 
had spoiled my evening. 


ANGELA 
My Lord, I do not love my mother overmuch. 


THE DUKE 
Don’t you, now? That’s splendid. I don’t like 
her myself. I never trust a woman who has whiskers. 


ANGELA 
She has not been very good to me, My Lord. 


THE DUKE 

Hasn’t she? Then, that’s probably why she was 
struck down. [Emuitia gives vent to a new outburst 
of horror. The Duxer is thoroughly annoyed. | 
Stop that! [To Ancrta.] Does she always go on 
like this? Because, I won’t have it! I once had a 
mistress— [Pausing with unexpected delicacy; 
then, to ANcELA.] You don’t mind? 


ANGELA 
It is quite all right, My Lord. 


108 THE FIREBRAND 


THE DUKE 

Thank you. Some women dislike so much hearing 
about the other women. . . I was saying, that I 
once had a mistress who would cry at the slightest 
provocation . .. when her husband died, for in- 
stance, or when a new dress was late in delivery, or 
at any other time. Whenever you went to see her 
you were certain to come home wet to the skin. I 
finally married her again to a fellow I disliked. But 


. where were we? 


ANGELA 
My Lord, we were talking of my mother. ° 


THE DUKE 
An ugly subject: let us drop it. Let me see... 
[An inspiration.] Emilia, go back to the palace. 


ANGELA 
My Lord, I should rather that she stayed with me. 


THE DUKE 
Don’t vex me. [Jo Emrtia.|] If you don’t want 
to go into the palace, you can stay in the gardens. 
But don’t bother us. And don’t peek. [Emrtia 
exits, rear.| 'Thank goodness, we’re alone! 


ANGELA 
[ Softly. ] 
My Lord, you desired to be alone with me. 


THE FIREBRAND 109 


THE DUKE 
[ Fervently. | 
Forever. 
ANGELA 
Forever? 
THE DUKE 


Well . .. until tomorrow, at least. And you 
. are you glad to be alone with me? 


ANGELA 


My Lord, I am glad. 


THE DUKE 
[ Kissing her hand. | 
Angela, when we are alone, don’t call me “My 
Lord.” I prefer that you call me—Bumpy. It’s my 
nickname. 
ANGELA 


I scarcely dare, My Lord. 


THE DUKE 

It is my wish. But only in private, mind you— 
never in public; it would dethrone me. Now, let me 
hear you say it—Bumpy! like that. 


ANGELA 
Bumpy... 

THE DUKE 
Splendid! You got it without any trouble, didn’t 


110 THE FIREBRAND 


you? Some of them have a devil of a time with it !— 
I beg your pardon. There I go again. I shouldn’t 
have said that. 

ANGELA 


It is quite all right, My Lord. 


THE DUKE 
[Correcting her. | 
Bumpy. 
ANGELA 
Bumpy. 
THE DUKE 


‘Tell me, when you saw me this morning, were you 
taken with me? 
ANGELA 
Yes, Bumpy. 
THE DUKE 
Could you love me? 


ANGELA 
I want to learn to love you, very much. 


THE DUKE 


And by St. Costanzo, you shall! 


ANGELA 
I want to long for you . . . when you are away, 


THE FIREBRAND 111 


THE DUKE 
[Vastly flattered. | 


You want me as much as all that? 


ANGELA 
I want to want you .. . as much as all that. 


THE DUKE 
Let us begin to make you want me. First, you 
don’t dislike my face? 


ANGELA 
No, My Lord. 
THE DUKE 
[Correcting her. | 
Bumpy. 
ANGELA 
[ Obediently. | 
Bumpy. 
THE DUKE 


[ Resuming. | 
You don’t dislike my face. Well, that’s half the 
battle. You find some of my features even pleasing, 
perhaps. 
ANGELA 
I do, Bumpy. 


THE DUKE 
My ... forehead, let us say? 


“y12 THE FIREBRAND 





ANGELA 
Yes, Bumpy. 


THE DUKE 
[Leaning still closer. | 
My .. .. eyes? 


ANGELA 
Yes, Bumpy. 


THE DUKE 
[Leaning closer to her.] 
My ... nose? 


ANGELA 
[| Hesitantly. | 
Yes. 


THE DUKE 
Oh! You’re not so sure about my nose! ... My 
mouth? 
[She does not reply, for he kisses her las- 
civiously. PotvEriIno enters and_ stands 
aghast at the scene he must interrupt. | 


POLVERINO 
[In a small voice. | 

My Lord! [No answer. He raises his voice.| 
My Lord! My Lord! 


THE FIREBRAND 113 





THE DUKE 
[ Hears, flares at him.] 
Polverino! How dare you! 


ANGELA 
[Springing to her feet. | 
My mother is dead. 


POLVERINO 
Worse! The Duchess has arrived. 


THE DUKE 
[ Stupidly. | 
The Duchess? 


POLVERINO 


Yes, My Lord. 


THE DUKE 
[Lacking confirmation. | 
My wife? 
POLVERINO 
[ Specifically. | 
Your wife, the Duchess, My Lord. 


THE DUKE 
Here? 
POLVERINO 
Not three minutes ago. 


114 THE FIREBRAND 





THE DUKE 
[A gross betrayal of faith. | 
But she told me that she would stay in town, 


POLVERINO 
Her Excellency desires me to acquaint you with 
the fact that she changed her mind, and awaits you. 


THE DUKE 
Is it a trap? 


POLVERINO 
A trap, My Lord? 


THE DUKE 
Does she know that Angela is here? 


POLVERINO 
No, My Lord. 
THE DUKE 
Why do you say that? 


POLVERINO 
Her Excellency is quiet and composed. 


THE DUKE 
A bad sign. You don’t know that woman, Pol- 
verino! When she merely taps her foot, the walls 
of Jericho are falling. [Looks at Ancrta.| The 


THE FIREBRAND 115 


Duchess is so unreasonable about these matters, 
Polverino. What must we do? 


POLVERINO 
Tell the Duchess that one of the gentlemen 
brought the girl here. 


THE DUKE 
I said you did not know her; she would guess that 
I was the gentleman. We must think of something 
else. 
POLVERINO 
My Lord, we can send the girl away. 


THE DUKE 
[Disgusted.| « 
I could think of that myself. 


POLVERINO 
[ Pausing. | 
My Lord, the Duchess said that she was weary 
from the journey and would retire early. 


THE DUKE 


Immediately, I hope. Well? 


POLVERINO 
Let the girl stay here, My Lord, until you have 


116 THE FIREBRAND 


seen Her Excellency. Then, you can return, and we 
can devise a place to secrete her. 


THE DUKE 
Good. But you will devise a place in the mean- 
while. 


POLVERINO 
My Lord, I will walk about until I have thought 


of a place. 


THE DUKE 
Angela, you have heard us. Not a step until I 
return—and not a sound. 


ANGELA 
[| Clinging to him. | 
Oh, My Lord! Do not leave me here. 


THE DUKE 
Why not? 
: ANGELA 
I shall be afraid. 
THE DUKE 


Nonsense. Of what? 


ANGELA 


Of being alone . . . of the dark. 


THE FIREBRAND 117 





THE DUKE 

She’s nervous, Polverino. Where’s Emilia? [Re- 

membering her departure with horror.| Good God! 
She didn’t return to the palace? 


POLVERINO 


I did not see her, My Lord. 


THE DUKE 

We must find her, or she will give the game away. 

[Zo Ancrra.] Call her, but not too loud. She may 
be near. 


ANGELA 
| Not too loud. | 
Emilia. Emilia. Come here. 


EMILIA 

[Appearing instantly. | 

I’m coming. 
THE DUKE 
She wasn’t a dozen feet away. She’s been peeking. 
But never mind, now. Polverino, I’m relying on you. 
[He goes, and Potverino, exiting, crosses 
E111. | 


EMILIA 


[ Giggling. | 
I saw the Duke kiss you. 


118 THE FIREBRAND 


ANGELA 
An awful thing’s happened. ‘The Duchess has — 
arrived. 


EMILIA 
[Seating herself.] 
Was that why the Duke ran away? 


ANGELA 
He doesn’t know what to do. 


EMILIA 
[ Interested. | 
Are dukes afraid of their wives, too? 


ANGELA 
If she finds me here... 

[They leap to their feet in a panic and clutch 
each other, too alarmed to cry out. A figure 
which, unseen to them, had appeared on top 
of the wall during their brief talk, has half- 
climbed, half-dropped to the ground. It is 
Creiuini, dagger between his teeth; and, re- 
covering his balance, he sees them. | 


CELLINI 
[His dagger in hand, now.] 
Who’s there? 


THE FIREBRAND 119 





EMILIA 
Recognizing his voice. | 
It’s the Master! 


CELLINI 
Emilia? 

ANGELA 
You—Benvenuto? 

CELLINI 


Angela! 
[He takes her in his arms and leads her to the 
bench, while Emitia stands uncertainly.] 


ANGELA 
[Recovering from the shock.] 
How did you ever get here? 


CELLINI 
Through rivers of blood. 


ANGELA 
I heard the Duke sent soldiers to the house, 


CELLINI 


I killed them. 


ANGELA 
Both of them? 


120 THE FIREBRAND 


CELLINI 

Let me tell you about it. I called one of the 
rogues into the workshop and disposed of him before 
he had time to draw. ‘Then, I called the other, but 
he sprang back, when I attacked, and it was nip and 
tuck for a while. Finally, I managed to poignard 
him and rip him on the point of my sword, at the 
same instant! It was a bloody business. 


ANGELA 
The Duke will never forgive you. 


CELLINI 

He cannot rob me of these moments with you. I 

should have slain an army—had one been in my way 
—to reach your side, tonight. 


ANGELA 
The Duke forbade you to leave the house. 


CELLINI 
My heart ordered me to go. [Notices Emrtia; 
roughly to her.| Get away from here! 


EMILIA 
[She has never affronied him before.| I won't! 


CELLINI 
Won’t! Do you say won’t to me? 


THE FIREBRAND 


EMILIA 
[ Weakening. | 

They’re always sending me away... 
[But she starts to go, rear. | 


ANGELA 
[ Detaining her. | 


No. Not there. [Points, right.| There. 


us if the Duke comes. 


EMILIA 
[ Loyal, if petulant. | 
Look out for Polverino. 


[ Exits, right. | 
CELLINI 
[Savagely. | 


Is Polverino here? 


ANGELA 


121 


Warn 


He is walking in the gardens. We must be careful. 


CELLINI 


He must be careful. [Not with curiosity, but 


anguish.| Has the Duke made love to you? 


ANGELA 


He began . . . but he heard that the Duchess had 


arrived. 


122 THE FIREBRAND 


CELLINI 
Did he dance a tarantella at the news? 


ANGELA 
He ran to her. But he will be back, soon. 


CELLINI 
Then we will make the most of the little time we 
have left. Oh, my dear Angela! You cannot imag- 
ine my desolation when they took you away. And 
you—were you happy? 


ANGELA 
[ Pausing. | 
_I was very happy in your house. 


CELLINI 
Let us be happy here. Let us forget all that we 
can of trouble and remember all that we can of joy. 
See, how black it is everywhere! yet to me, these 
moments are white butterflies, perfuming the way to 
the Unknown . .. And look: there is a rose; now, 
look deeper and farther, look into my heart, and see 
the rose you have set there. 


ANGELA 
[ Nestling to him.] : 
I wish that the Duke weren’t coming back. 


THE FIREBRAND 123 


CELLINI 
Believe me, he is not coming back. 


ANGELA 
He promised. 


CELLINI 
He cannot come back; he is far behind us; he can- 
not touch us. Life has begun from a new, safe 
source, and all things flow from the future. We are 


here, hands held, lips pressed ... [a lengthy kiss | 
forever. 
ANGELA 
[ Dreamily. | 


Ah! The Duke used that word. 


CELLINI 
[ Disconcerted. | 

Did he get that far? . . . But do not mention the 
Duke; how can I think of the Duke when I can only 
think of you? The Duke is the world, and the world 
has vanished ; it was a bad dream of last night, gone 
in the dawning light of you. What is everything? 
I divide the heavens, I count the suns, I multiply the 

stars, and add them all up to—you. 


ANGELA 


[ Softly. | 
I should like to learn . . . to love you. 


124 THE FIREBRAND 


CELLINI 
My words are your tutors. 


ANGELA 
I should like to want you . . . when you are away. 


CELLINI 

Listen: I have been away for an eternity. Day 
after day you have climbed to the top of the tall hill, 
hoping in vain to see me come down the long, long 
road. And now—at last—you see me. You wave 
your shawl. You cannot wait for me to reach you, 
so long is the road, so wild is your pulse! You race 
as fast as your little feet will carry you... you 
reach me—and throw your arms around me—and 
now you have caught me in the net of your wonder! 


ANGELA 
[ Half-stirred. | 
And would you do anything for me? 


CELLINI 
Anything. 
ANGELA 
[Thinking of something for him to do.] 
Then make me a ring like you made for the 
Duchess! 
CELLINI 
[A little jarred by her instant reaction. | 


THE FIREBRAND 125 


You are quick to follow me up. But to be at your 
feet is to be above thrones. 


ANGELA 
And you will always think of me? 


CELLINI 
Always. 
ANGELA 
You wouldn’t leave me... for another? 
CELLINI 
Never. 
ANGELA 


[ Probing further. | 
You wouldn’t leave me... if I wanted you with 
me... for your work? 


CELLINI 
[ Unthinkingly. | 
Never. [He realizes the meaning of her words. | 
My work! Did you say my work? 
[Abruptly releases her and is on his feet. | 


ANGELA 
[Looking left and right, anxiously. | 


Is someone coming? 


126 THE FIREBRAND 


CELLINI 
[ Beating his breast. | 
How the devil should I know? 


ANGELA 
[ Uncomprehendingly. | 
Then what is it? 


CELLINI 
[Unaware of her presence. | 
The Cardinal’s cup! I left it on the anvil—they 
will steal my beautiful cup! O Lord, don’t let them 
steal my cup—it isn’t finished. 


ANGELA 
[ Humbly. | 


Benvenuto! You forget me. 


CELLINI 
[Returning to himself. | 
Forget you? Never. You are always first in my 
thoughts. 
ANGELA 
[Commandingly.] _ 
Then sit by me. 


CELLINI 
[Unheeding her, groaning. | 
That damned Ottaviano! I think he has made me 
forget the design for the Atlas... 


THE FIREBRAND 127 


ANGELA 
[Not humbly. | 
Benvenuto! 
CELLINI 
Silence. Ah! it was to have been a figure, engraved 
ona plate of gold... 


ANGELA 
I'll go away! 
CELLINI 
. . . the heaven on its back was a crystal ball, 
on which was cut the Zodiac .. . 


ANGELA 
I'll never speak to you again! 


CELLINI 
. -- on a field of lapis-lazuli! 
[Emini enters in haste. | 


EMILIA 


The Duke is ‘coming. 


CELLINI 
[Out of his trance. |] 
* The Duke? I must see him. 


ANGELA 
It will be terrible if he finds you with me. 


128 THE FIREBRAND 


CELLINI 
You are right. He will not give me a chance to 
explain. He must be told that I am here . . . that 
I have information of the greatest importance. 
Angela—but I cannot bear the thought of leaving 
you ... not even for a few minutes, 


ANGELA 
For my sake, you must. 


CELLINI 
I will hide. You must tell him that I am here. 
Cajole him to see me; say that. . . Yes, say that 
I know of a plot against his life. 


ANGELA 
I dare not. 
EMILIA 
[At the extreme right. | 
He is getting close. 


ANGELA 
[Ready to promise everything. | 
I will, I will! 
EMILIA , 
[ Excitedly. | 
Go! Go! He is here. , 
[Cexiurn1 leaps over the wall., Eminia joins 


THE FIREBRAND 129 


AncELA. They sit in silence. The Duxr 
enters. | 


THE DUKE 
| Pausing as he enters. | 
Angela! I thought I’d never get back. 


ANGELA 
You were long, Your Excellency. 


THE DUKE 
[ Gallantly. | 
It was longer for me. And fancy ... [Moves 
towards the bench| she only wanted to see me to say, 
good night. [Spies Emiiia; pettishly.] Go away 


from here. 


EMILIA 
Go where, My Lord? 


THE DUKE 

Oh, go to America. Climb a tree or fall down a 

well—it’s all the same to me. But go away. And 
don’t peek this time, as you did before. 


EMILIA 
No, My Lord. 
[ Exits, left. | 


130 THE FIREBRAND 





THE DUKE 
Isn’t it outrageous, what a time a man in my 
position has to get alone with a girl? 


ANGELA 
I have something to tell you, My Lord. 


THE DUKE 
[ Rebuking her. | 


We are alone. 


ANGELA 
Bumpy—it’s about Cellini, Bumpy. 


THE DUKE 
I forbid you to mention his name. Talk about me. 


ANGELA 
But it is very important. 


THE DUKE 
So aml. Nomore of this now. 


ANGELA 
[ Pleadingly. | 
But Bumpy 





OTTAVIANO’S VOICE 
[Off right, interrupting her. ] 
Alessandro! Alessandro! 


THE FIREBRAND 131 


THE DUKE 
[Supremely vexed. | 
Are we never to be left alone? 


OTTAVIANO’S VOICE 
[Approaching. | 
Alessandro! 
THE DUKE 
And my own cousin, too. One would think that at 
least he would have some consideration. 
[Enter Orraviano, and soldiers bearing lan- 
terns. | 


OTTAVIANO 
[ Agitated. | 
Is that you, Alessandro? 


THE DUKE 
No, it isn’t. And if it is, I am busy. 


OTTAVIANO 
I have the gravest news. 


THE DUKE 
It will wait until tomorrow. 


OTTAVIANO 
Cellini has escaped. 


132 THE FIREBRAND 


THE DUKE 
Then order the soldiers to catch him and let me 
alone. 


OTTAVIANO 
He plots against your life. 


THE DUKE 
Plots against my life! [To Ancrua.] Then 
that’s what you wanted to tell me. 


ANGELA 
[ Overwhelmed. | 
I know nothing, Bumpy. 


THE DUKE 
[ Whispering. | 
Not in public, I said. 


OTTAVIANO | 
I know everything. When I stayed behind to in- 
struct Cellini on the reverse for the medal, he pro- 
posed to me that it would be to our mutual advan- 
tage if you were put out of the way, Alessandro, 


THE DUKE 
So it would be. What did you say? 


THE FIREBRAND 133 


OTTAVIANO 
I led him on and told him I would return later to 
discuss the details. When I arrived, I found that 
he had killed his guard and fled. 


THE DUKE 
[Irritated by the entire proceeding. | 
He might have waited a day. I had planned such 
an enjoyable evening. 


OTTAVIANO 
[Displaying his impatience. | 
Alessandro, it would be best if you gave orders to 
hang him directly he is caught. 


THE DUKE 
[Feebly assuming the ducal air.] 

We order that Cellini be hanged directly that he is 
caught and give the matter into your hands for exe- 
») cution. [Relapsing into his mood.| And now, go 
away. 


OTTAVIANO 
[To the soldiers. | 
A hundred ducats to the man who brings me 
Cellini dead ! 
[A piercing scream is heard. | 


134 THE FIREBRAND 


THE DUKE 
What was that? 


OTTAVIANO 
[Staring into the dark. | 
That was murder. 


A SOLDIER 
Someone is coming, My Lord! 
[They grasp their weapons. PotveERino stag- 
gers wn, rear, and almost falls; the SoLDIER 
catches him. | 


OTTAVIANO 
It is Polverino. He is wounded. 


THE DUKE 
Polverino? Wounded? In my grounds? 


POLVERINO 


[Gasping. | 
My Lord ... I am dead. 


OTTAVIANO 
[Scenting his prey. ] 
Who has killed you? 


THE FIREBRAND 135. 


POLVERINO 


Cellini. 


THE DUKE 
[ Showing fear. | 
Cellini here? 
POLVERINO 
I stumbled across him. . . I am dead. 
[Collapses in the SoupiER’s arms. | 


THE DUKE 
Treason! 


OTTAVIANO 
[ Swiftly. | 
Two hundred ducats to the man who brings me 
Cellini dead! 
[General excitement, as the soldiers and Or- 
TAVIANO exit. Poxtverino has been rudely 
laid on the earth. | 


THE DUKE 


[Calling after them. ] 
Beat the bushes! Don’t let him escape! I won’t 


feel comfortable until he’s hanged. 


ANGELA 
[ Swooning. | 
My Lord ... I am unwell. 


136 THE FIREBRAND 


THE DUKE 

Good heavens! You mustn’t do that here! They 
shouldn’t have left me alone. Angela ... wake up, 
like a good little girl. . . What will I do with 
her? Polverino! Why don’t you answer me? What 
will Ido with her? [Leans Ancrta against back of 
the bench and goes to Potvertno. Shakes him.]} 
Polverino! You must speak. What will I do with 
her? Where will I take her? 


POLVERINO 
[_Murmuring, as the Duxe raises him. | 
To your own room. . . The Duchess .. . will 
never think... 
[Falls back, unconscious again. | 


THE DUKE 
[Dropping him. | 
To my own room! The Duchess will never think! 
. . . Oh, Polverino! What a clever servant I have 
lost in you. [Goes to ANGELA, endeavors to arouse 
her.| Angela! 


ANGELA 
[Opening her eyes. | 


Thaty ie *. 80 COld; sues 


THE FIREBRAND 137 


THE DUKE 
| Jubilantly. | 
She’s coming to!... Angela, try to walk. 
[He supports her as they move right. At the exit, 
he turns and shouts.| Find him! Hang him! [To the 
fallen courtier.| Polverino— Oh, he’s dead. 
[Half carries her off, right. | 
[Cenurmti vaults back over the wall, and hear- 
ing a noise, crouches behind a rosebush. Two 
soldiers cross from left to right in search of 
him. Emiuia comes in with a thousand hor- 
rid shapes about her. | 


EMILIA 
[T'o the bench. | 
Angela! My Lord! What’s happened? Oh! D’m 
so scared. 
[She sees Potvertno’s body, and runs off, left, 
screaming. Ascanio drops over the wall. | 


ASCANIO 
Emilia! Emilia! Emilia! 


[He rushes out, rear. | 


OTTAVIANO’S VOICE 
[Wrathfully, off right. | 
He’s somewhere around here! He must be found. 
Look for him, I tell you. Find him—find him. 


138 THE FIREBRAND 


CELLINI 

[Emerging and going right.| 
There is one place they will not look for me—in 

the Duchess’s bed. . . , 
[He runs off. | 

[ The scene is blotted out, for the moon has sud- 
denly gone down. It rises again, in a few 
minutes, on a corner of the Palace’s balcony. 
To the front is a low, white stone railing; 
behind it, the rather broad balcony; and 
then, the Palace itself, in obscurity. The 
light falls somewhat to the right, revealing 
two large curtained, glass doors, side by side; 
the first opens into the Ducuess’s room, the 
other into the Duxxr’s. These doors swing 
respectively right and left, so that when they 
are opened, the space between them is unob- 
structed, as now, when they are closed. The 
light falls brightest on this spot, and slopes 
away to the left, dimly revealing where the 
balcony turns with the building. Beyond this, 
left, and below everywhere, the night is un- 
broken. Thus, CELUINI is not seen as he 
climbs to the balcony just where it turns, 
right, but is visible as soon as he surmounts 
the railing. With the utmost caution, he 
makes his way over it, and to the Ducusss’s 
door. Here, he stops and listens; takes the 
key which he has; fits it into the lock as 


THE FIREBRAND 139 


quietly as possible; turns it, and slowly, very 
slowly, pulls out the door. The room is wm 
darkness, save for one candle. This is held 
by the Ducuess, who has heard him and 
stands on the threshold in négligée. Through- 
out the scene all talk is pianissimo. | 


THE DUCHESS 
Cellini? 
CELLINI 


My Lady ... let me in. 


THE DUCHESS 


[Stepping on to the balcony. | 


You are impatient, now, who were so slow before. 


CELLINI 


My Lady, someone may see us, here. 


THE DUCHESS 


[Stepping on to the balcony. | 
We are safer here than in my room. The Duke 


sleeps, next door. 


CELLINI 


You are daring, Madam. 


140 THE FIREBRAND 


THE DUCHESS 
What woman would not be daring when the nioon 
shines? What a beautiful evening, Benvenuto. | 


CELLINI 


Beautiful with your presence, My Lady. 


THE DUCHESS 
The night is our friend. You may take my hand, 
Benvenuto. [He kisses her hand, she sighs.| Now, 
we three together, holding hands—you, and I, and 
the night. 


CELLINI 


Madam, you make me jealous of the night. 


THE DUCHESS 
You are ardent, now, who were so... honor- 
able, before. I wondered if you would come. 


CELLINI 
[| Boastfully. | 
I came, although the Duke had my house guarded. 


THE DUCHESS 


And you did this... 


THE FIREBRAND 141 


CELLINI 
[Giving language to her implication. | 
To reach you, My Lady. Nothing could have 
stood in my way. 
THE DUCHESS 
Nothing? 
CELLINI 
I would have killed an army to be with you, to- 
night. 
THE DUCHESS 
And for the joy I will give you, it would not have 
been too much. 


CELLINI 
There is more than you have heard. 


THE DUCHESS 


More of danger? 
CELLINI 
Polverino saw me, in the gardens. I had to stab 
him. 
THE DUCHESS 
Do not mourn for him. 


CELLINI 


[Dryly.] 
I do not, Madam. 


142 THE FIREBRAND 


THE DUCHESS 
I knew him well. He was a wretch. 


CELLINI 
I do not mourn for him, but for myself—when the 
Duke hears of these things. 


THE DUCHESS 
Do not be afraid. I will tell you a secret... 
You think me the Duchess? 


CELLINI 


My Lady, surely. 


THE DUCHESS 
[Charmingly. | 
Iam not. I am the Duke. 


CELLINI 
I ask pardon, for my crimes, from Your Lordship. 


THE DUCHESS 
With my lips, I pardon you. 
[They kiss. ] 


CELLINI 
Ah, Madam! You will drive me on to more crimes. 


THE FIREBRAND 143 


THE DUCHESS 
Why will I do that? . . . Do not think that I do 
not know your answer, but it will be pleasant to hear, 


even so. 


CELLINI 
You will drive me to commit more crimes... 
that I may receive more pardons. 


THE DUCHESS 
You do not have to wait. I will give you absolu- 
tion for all your crimes of the future. 
[They kiss, again. | 


CELLINI 
[Apparently inflamed. | 
My Lady, let us go inside. 


THE DUCHESS 
[With a little laugh. | 


I believe that you are a man, after all. 


CELLINI 
Polverino will swear to it, in Hell. 


THE DUCHESS 
[ Wickedly. | 
I hope to swear to it, on Earth. 


144 THE FIREBRAND 





CELLINI 
Do not let us delay longer, Madam. 


THE DUCHESS 
You are too much in haste. 


CELLINI 

When I killed Polverino, he aroused the guard. 
They searched for me, in the gardens. I may be 
seen, 


THE DUCHESS 


The guard passed you? 


CELLINI 
Yes, but they will return, Madam. 


THE DUCHESS 
They will never dream of seeing you on my bal- 
cony, and if they do, they will think it is the Duke. 


There is no danger. 


CELLINI 
[His pride wounded. | 


You wrong me, Madam. 


THE DUCHESS 
Not willingly, my Benvenuto. 


THE FIREBRAND 145 





CELLINI 
It is not for fear of them, but for love of you, 
that I would withdraw. 


THE DUCHESS 
[Offering her mouth. | 

Now, it is you who must pardon me. 
[They kiss, passionately. | 


! 


CELLINI 

[Taking advantage of her closed eyes to look 
about for enemies. | 

My Lady 





THE DUCHESS 
[A gentle interruption. | 
When our lips met, I was no longer your Lady, but 
your love. 
CELLINI 
My love! . . Let us go. See: it is not only 
your soldiers’ eyes that watch us. 


THE DUCHESS 
The night has eyes, too. 


CELLINI 
[ Ruefully. | 
A thousand eyes! 


THE DUCHESS 
And my room... has none. 


146 THE FIREBRAND 


CELLINI 
We will leave the night behind, and take its bril- 
liance with us. 


THE DUCHESS 
[Laughing strangely. | 
You are too much in a hurry. 


CELLINI 
My heart races to be with you—alone. 


THE DUCHESS 
I weave a laurel for your sure victory. 


CELLINI 
My blood is red, but you are in my blood like a 
redder poppy. 


THE DUCHESS 
Let me flower there a little before you pluck me. 


CELLINI 
You are not a woman: you are a torch. 


THE DUCHESS 
[ Thrillingly. | 
We shall have light in our dark room. 


CELLINI 
I am on fire. 


THE FIREBRAND 147 


THE DUCHESS 
Press me close, that I may catch the delicious 
flame. 
CELLINI 
I used your key to open your door, let me use it, 
now, to lock your door! 


THE DUCHESS 
[Not meaning it.] 
You must be patient. 


CELLINI 
Was Paris patient in Helen’s arms? 


THE DUCHESS 
And for his haste, he was killed. Let us hold on 
to these sweet moments until the sweet becomes un- 
bearable. ... 
CELLINI 
Beauty’s mother was cruelty. 


THE DUCHESS 
But her child is kindness, as you will live to learn 
tonight. [Disengaging herself as much as CELuINI 
¢ will permit.| I must leave you, for an instant. 


CELLINI 
Cannot we go together? 


148 THE FIREBRAND 


THE DUCHESS 
I must see that the Duke is in his room, that he 
sleeps. | 
CELLINI 
[Releasing her.| 
Well, I trust. 


THE DUCHESS 
[Taking the candle.] 
Better than we shall sleep. . . 
[She brings the door forward with her; they 
embrace in tts shadow; she goes, and CELLINI 
shuts the door. | 


CELLINI 

[With a gesture of repugnance. | 

It was Angela that I was kissing! 

[He has taken a few steps left, and turns to see 
the Duxe’s door opening. With a bound, he 
vanishes around the corner of the terrace, 
where he is effectively lost in the gloom. The 
door swings wider, and the Duxr and An- 
GELA emerge. She ts dressed as before, but 
her hair has fallen. It is evident that she has 
not yet recovered from her swoon; the Dux 
assists her.] 


THE DUKE 
[ Cheerfully. | 


THE FIREBRAND 149 


Since lying down didn’t help you, I’m sure that 
the air will. You'll be yourself in no time. 


ANGELA 
[Supporting herself on the rail.] 
You are very good, My Lord. 


THE DUKE 
Not at all—I expect that someone would do as 
much for me, if I were sick. 


ANGELA 
We may be seen. 


THE DUKE 
We are safer here than in my room. [FPovnts.| 
The Duchess sleeps there. 


ANGELA 
[| Shivering. | 


I am afraid. 


THE DUKE 
‘Nonsense. The only danger was in getting 
you by. 


ANGELA 
But the Duchess may awake. 


150 THE FIREBRAND 


THE DUKE 
She retired as soon as she arrived. I’m sure that 
she’s snoring—she always does. As long as we 
don’t talk too loud, we’re absolutely all right. [Re- 
coils.| What was that? 


ANGELA 
[Ready to faint again. | 
Someone is knocking. 


THE DUKE 
Hush! 
[The knocking—a very soft one,—is heard 
again. | 
ANGELA 
It’s at your door. 


THE DUKE 
[Ready to faint himself. | 
Don’t I know it? . . . I'll pretend to be asleep. 
[The Ducuess is heard calling “Alessandro,” 
in a voice calculated not to arouse him if he 
is asleep. | 


ANGELA 
Hadn’t you better answer her? 


THE DUKE 
How should I know? If only Polverino were 


THE FIREBRAND 151 


here. . . Oh! I left the door unlocked, she may 
come in! Wait. Tl speak to her, and listen until 
she’s back in her room. 
[He goes. Anceua closes the door behind him, 
and leans weakly against it. CELLINI comes 
out of his refuge and tiptoes towards her. | 


CELLINI 
Angela! 


ANGELA 
[ Astonished. | 
Benvenuto! 
[Droops into his arms. | 


CELLINI 
| Fiercely. | 
What has happened? 


ANGELA 
I am afraid. 
CELLINI 
Of the Duke? 
ANGELA 


Of the Duchess. I like the Duke. 


CELLINI 
[ Jealous. | 
You must hate the Duke and love me. 


152 THE FIREBRAND 


ANGELA 
Oh! You were plotting to kill him, weren’t you? 


CELLINI 
[ Divining a fresh misfortune. | 


Who said that? 


ANGELA 
Ottaviano told the Duke so. 


CELLINI 
[Taut, to himself. | 


This time, there is no escape. 


ANGELA 


[| Hopefully. | 
Were you going to kill him . . . for me? 


CELLINI 
[Crushing her in his arms, in pain. | 
For you, and for no one else! Angela! Hark! 
Do you hear those bells? 


ANGELA 
I hear no bells. 


CELLINI 
| Tenderly. | 


They ring over my own Summer Palace. 


THE FIREBRAND 153 





ANGELA 
[ Decisively. | 
You haven’t one. 


CELLINI 
[Lifting her from the ground. | 
Oh, Angela, Angela, you are my Summer Palace, 
my house under the stars, and every star a silver 
bell which rings, come home, come home! 


ANGELA 


[As he starts right with her.]| 
But the Duke... . 


CELLINI 
[ Pausing. | 

What is a Duke compared to Cellini? Tomorrow 
my life ends, but tonight I find endless life. [With 
sudden sadness.}| Summer is almost over, and 
already there is a chill in the air. . . [With as 
sudden exaltation.| But tonight is Spring, and the 
colors and fires of Spring! 


ANGELA 


[Alarmed and delighted.] 
Where are we going? 


154 THE FIREBRAND 


CELLINI 
[Reckless, with a great laugh. | 
Where are we not going! [Starts right again.] 
There are no blossoms we shall not touch, no heavens 
we shall not see! 


ANGELA 
[As he throws a leg over the rail.] 
I will fall. 
CELLINI 


Hold on to my heart, and fly. 


ANGELA 
| Holds on not to his heart, but his neck. | 
Aren’t you afraid of what the Duke will do? 


CELLINI 

[Triwmphantly, as he throws his other leg 
over. | 

Let him howl—tonight another thief enters into 
Paradise! . 
[Darkness swallows them as they disappear 
below the edge of the balcony. Simultane- 
ously, both doors open, and the Duxe and 
the Ducuess, each bearing a candle, step 
out. As they become aware of each other, 
the Ducuess gives only a slight indication 
of the shock; but the Dux narrowly avoids 


THE FIREBRAND 155 


apoplexy. The Ducuess imagines that Cru- 
LInI is hidden behind her door; the DuxE 
imagines that Ancrta is hidden behind his 
door. Instinctively, she looks right and he, 
left. There is a silent moment of vast relief 
for beth. Then...] 


THE DUCHESS 
[Coldly. | 
A lovely evening, my Lord. 


THE DUKE 
[ Stuttering. | 
A lovely evening, Madam. 
[They diligently study the skies. ] 


ACT III 


The workshop, again, late next morning. 
Creiuini, hammer and chisel at hand, is at the 
anvil. ANGELA sits near, but a different An- 
GELA than she who drooped in CELLINI’s arms. 
There has been a subtle change in her de- 
meanor; she ts neither as shy nor as humble as 
she was, but a good deal more self-assured. ... 
Her face wears an inquisitive expression. 


CELLINI 
[Turning on her with the voice of a man who 
has endured all that he can possibly stand. | 
For heaven’s sake, stop your talking and leave me 
alone! 
ANGELA 
[ Sullenly. | 
I won’t! 
CELLINI 
[With obvious self-control. | 
I must finish this cup. 


ANGELA 
[ Boldly. | 


I don’t want you to finish it. 
156 


THE FIREBRAND 157 


CELLINI 
[ Wearily. | 
Ive explained, often enough, that I have only a 
few hours of life left... . 


ANGELA 


[ Sniffing. | 
You just say that to make me feel bad. 


CELLINI 
. and that I must get through as much work 
as I can. 
ANGELA 
I don’t want you to work. 
" CELLINI 
| Looking at her oddly. | 
I am beginning to realize that. 
ANGELA 
When you work, you forget all about me. [With 
a quick smile.| I want you to sit with me. 


CELLINI 
[ Brutally. | 
What for? 
ANGELA 
[In a little temper of her own.] 
So that you can talk to me—that’s what for! 


158 THE FIREBRAND 


CELLINI 
[Hammering savagely. | 
I talked to you for two hours, this morning. 


ANGELA 
Talk to me some more. 


CELLINI 
You did nothing but repeat yourself. 


ANGELA 
[ Hurt. | 


You treat me as if I were a child. 


CELLINI 
[Feeling that he has been offensive. | 
I don’t mean to treat you that way, my dear child. 


ANGELA 
[Seizing her advantage. | 
Then come over here. 


CELLINI 
[With an impotent gesture. | 
What do you want of me? 
[Goes to her. | 
ANGELA 
[ Making room for him on her chair. | 
Sit here. 


THE FIREBRAND 159 


CELLINI 
[Sttting; half good-naturedly. | 
There! Now are you happy? 
[Stares miserably towards the anvil.] 


ANGELA 
[ Cooing. | 
Not yet. [Places his arm around her waist.] 
Now! 
CELLINI 
[After a pause. | 
How much longer am I supposed to do this? 


ANGELA 
[ Definitely. | 
Until I tell you not to. 


CELLINI 
[After another pause. | 
Angela .. . I worship the ground you walk on 
—but I must get to work. 


ANGELA 
[Drawing his arm tighter. | 
You think more of your work than you do of me! 


CELLINI 
[Nonplussed, since this is true. ] 
You don’t understand. 


160 THE FIREBRAND 


ANGELA 
Dear Benvenuto, you must promise me something. 


CELLINI 
[ Suspiciously. | 


Promise you what? 


ANGELA 
[With little amatory tricks. | 
Never, unless I say “‘yes” . . . to do any work! 


CELLINI 
[ Revolting. | 
I’m damned if I make that promise. 


ANGELA 
[ Putting her fingers over his mouth. | 
And never to use bad language before me. 


CELLINI 
[Furious, then apologetic. | 
I can’t help it !—now and then. 


ANGELA 
And always to love me... 


CELLINI 
[ Softening. | 
I promise that. 


THE FIREBRAND 161 





ANGELA 
—as you did last night... 


CELLINI 
[ Seduced. | 
Ah! last night. 
ANGELA 
—in the darkness... 
CELLINI 


[ Rapturously. | 
There was no darkness, last night; there was a 
flame. I think that I shall never burn with that 
flame again; night reveals its secret fire only once. 


ANGELA 
I made you happy. 


CELLINI 
Happy? Do not use that melancholy word, An- 
gela. Love begins where happiness ends. 


ANGELA 
I made you happy. Will you make me happy? 


CELLINI 
[Unsusprciously. | 
I will do my best, Angela. 


162 THE FIREBRAND 


ANGELA 


[ Swiftly. | 
Then promise you won’t work this morning! 


CELLINI 
[Tearing himself loose, violently. | 
A fine snare! Your mother named you Angela, 
but you were named Lillith before you were born. 
What has come over you, since yesterday? 


ANGELA 

You told me that I must live, as if I were real. 
Since I have heard that my mother is dead, and since 
I knew that a Duke could desire me, and since you 
told me that you would have killed him, for me.... 


CELLINI 
What of it? 
ANGELA 
I feel different. I feel more than I did like telling 
people to do things for me. 


CELLINI 
[Angrily. | 
Well, tell people, but don’t tell me. Once and 
for all, I tell you not to disturb me. 


ANGELA 
You don’t love me. 


THE FIREBRAND 163 


CELLINI 
A woman says that when she wants a man to hate 
himself forever. 
ANGELA 
The Duke would not treat me so. 


CELLINI 
[Enraged by the name. | 
Then go to him! 


ANGELA 
[Indignantly. | 
I won’t! You took me away, and now you’ll have 
to keep me. [Breaking down.| Go to the Duke! 
I said that you didn’t love me. 


CELLINI 
[Feeling that he has gone too far. | 
I didn’t really mean for you to go to the Duke, 


ANGELA 
You want me to play second fiddle to a furnace. 


. CELLINI 


[ Perplexed. | 
Believe me, Ido not. You come before everything. 


ANGELA 
If Ido, you'll sit with me again. 


164 THE FIREBRAND 


CELLINI 
[ Surrendering. | 
It is silly of us to quarrel, when I am so near the 


gallows. 
ANGELA 
[ Confident. | 
I will save you. 
CELLINI 
[ Skeptical. | 
You? 
ANGELA 
The Duke likes me. 
CELLINI 


[His blood freezing. | 
What are you thinking? 


ANGELA 
He will do anything for me... . if I am kind to 
him. 
CELLINI 
[ Shouting. | 
I forbid you to dream of it! [In a more normal 
tone.| I had rather go to Hell after I am dead, 
than before. 
ANGELA 
But I do not want you to die. And what will 
be the difference? 


THE FIREBRAND 165 


CELLINI 
[Stupefied by her insensttiveness. | 
The difference? Will you feel none? 


ANGELA 


Why should I? 


CELLINI 

[ Staggered. | 
Why should you? [Shaking her.] 
Don’t you love me? 


ANGELA 
You’re hurting me. 


CELLINI 
[Quieting his hands. | 
Don’t you love me? 


ANGELA 
That is why I should do it! 


CELLINI 
[Laughing wildly. | 
Oh, that’s why! 


ANGELA 
[ Missing his irony. | 
Of course, and it isn’t as if I didn’t like him. 


166 THE FIREBRAND 


CELLINI 
[Madly hilarious. | 
Nothing like it! 
ANGELA 
Then you’ll let me save you? 


CELLINI 
[Losing all his mirth; sternly. | 
No. Put the Duke out of your head. 


ANGELA 
But he will kill you! 


CELLINI 
My faith is in my God. He knows that I am a 
man of peace, beset by villainous trouble-makers. He 
will not fail me. 


ANGELA 
But the Duke has given Ottaviano orders to hang 
you. 
CELLINI 
And here I am wasting the minutes! 
[Turns resolutely to the anvil. 


ANGELA 
[ Pleadingly. | 


Benvenuto. 


THE FIREBRAND 167 


CELLINI 
[ Sharply. | 
Find something around the house to clean. 


ANGELA 
[ Mournfully. | 
Last night you told me that you would never 
let me soil my white hands... . 


CELLINI 

[At work. | 

It was very silly of me. 

[Beatrice appears at the left front door, very 
much alive; but she uses a cane to aid her 
walk. | 

ANGELA 
[Her back to Beatrice. | 
It wasn’t silly. I want you to talk to me. 


BEATRICE 
[ Raising her stick. | 
Pll talk to you—with this! 


ANGELA 
[Terrorized, retreats to CELLINI. | 
It’s my mother. Don’t let her beat me. 


BEATRICE 
[Enters, ignoring CeLxinI. | 


168 THE FIREBRAND 


I knew that I’d find you here! I told the Duke, 
last night, before I took on so. 


ANGELA 
[Clinging to CeLuint1] 
Don’t let her come any nearer. 


CELLINI 
[Flashing his chisel at Beatrice. | 
Shall I carve you a new face? [BxratTRIcE stops 
still.| You could use a new one, you know. 


BEATRICE 
Kidnaper! Home-wrecker! 


CELLINI 
[Impatiently. | 
What do you want? 
BEATRICE 
My forty ducats. 
CELLINI 
[ Surprised. | 
Forty ducats? 
BEATRICE 


For my daughter. 


THE FIREBRAND 169 





CELLINI 
[Turning to work again. | 
Don’t be a fool. You gave her to the Duke. 


BEATRICE 
[ Choking. | 


You stole her away. 


CELLINI 
[ Hammering. | 
She came with me, of her own accord. 


BEATRICE 
She never did! ... If you don’t give me my 
forty ducats, I’ll take her away. 


CELLINI 
[Seeing a ray of light. | 
Take her away? By all means. 


BEATRICE 
[ Unexpectedly. | 
You can’t make me take her away. 


CELLINI 
It was your idea. 


BEATRICE 
You can’t make me take her away. I want my 
forty ducats, 


170 THE FIREBRAND 


CELLINI 
[ Pausing, politely. | 
My dear lady, you agreed to give Angela to me, 
and then gave her to the Duke instead. Conse- 
quently, I owe you nothing. 


BEATRICE 
But the Duke may not have her, now. 


CELLINI 
[Resuming his labors. | 
That would be a pity. 


BEATRICE 
[Pointing out her whole misfortune. | 
I may lose him... and the forty ducats, too. 


CELLINI 


[Cheerfully.| Life is hard. 


BEATRICE 
[Frantically. | 
You give me forty ducats. 


CELLINI 
Beatrice, you are making me very tired. If you 
don’t get out of here 





THE FIREBRAND Leh 


BEATRICE 
[Choking anew. | 
If you don’t give me the forty ducats, T’ll take 
on again, as I did last night. Ill have a stroke, 
I will, right here. 


CELLINI 
[ Whastling. | 
Don’t let me interfere with your pleasures. 


BEATRICE 
[T'o ANGELA. | 
You! Make him give me my money! 


ANGELA 
[Gathering her courage. | 
I won’t. . . . You scared me when you came in 
because I thought you were dead. 


BEATRICE 
[To CeLuint. | 
Just like I said yesterday; you’ve turned my 
own daughter against me. I’m a respectable woman, 
and if you don’t give me my money, I'll have the 
law on you. 


CELLINY 
[ Amused. | 
They’re going to hang me, today. 


172 THE FIREBRAND 





[A knocking at the rear door. CELLINI, nero- 
ously. | 
Who’s there? 
PIER’S VOICE 
Benvenuto. 
[Crum goes to the door. | 


BEATRICE 
[ Spitefully. | 
Next time it’ll be the hangman. 
[Cetim1 has admitted Pier, and is shutting 
the door. He turns furiously on BEatRicz, 
who retreats left front. | 


CELLINI 
[Pushes her bodily through the exit. | 
Out, witch, out! 


BEATRICE 
[ Unseen. | 
I'll stay to see you strung up! 


ANGELA 
[Sulking, as he turns towards her.| 
I suppose you want me to go, too. 


CELLINI 
I must see Pier alone, Angela. 


THE FIREBRAND 173 


ANGELA 
[ Bitingly. | 
Oh, very well. 
[She goes right front.] 


CELLINI 
[ Eagerly. | 
You told the Duke I was here? 


PIER 
[ Gravely. | 
What have you done to the Duchess? 
CELLINI 
You saw her? 
PIER 


Saw her? I heard her. I thought I could count 
on her, and found her more set against you than 
the Duke himself. 

CELLINI 

What did the Duke say, when he learned I was 
here? 

PIER 

That you were crazy, or you would not have sent 
me to tell him; for he will certainly hang you before 
the morning is over. 


CELLINI 
Ottaviano has done his work well. Did you see 
the Duchess alone? 


174 THE FIREBRAND 


PIER 
She will be here directly. 


CELLINI 
Then I am saved! 


PIER ) 

I would not be too sure. She gave me this mes- 
sage: “Tell Cellini that I come, but that the gallows 
follow me.” 

CELLI 
[ Swaggering. | 
The Duke was about. 


PIER 
The Duke had gone. 


CELLINI 
[Crestfallen. | 


Then her anger was real. 


PIER 
Real? You should have been there! She was not 
human—she was a woman carved in ice. 


CELLINI 
[ Thoughtfully. | 


Nevertheless, she comes here... - 


THE FIREBRAND 175 


PIER 
Benvenuto, what have you done to the lady? 
She was always your friend. 


CELLINI 


I designed a ring which she disliked. 


PIER 
An odd reason for wishing a man strangled. 


CELLINI 
If ever I get out of this scrape, I will never look 
at another woman. 


PIER 
[Slyly.] 
It occurred to me... that perhaps you had not 
looked at the Duchess? 


CELLINI 

Perhaps not! and I wish that I had never looked 
at any other beside her. When you were here ear- 
lier, I did not tell you that I have Angela with me. 


PIER 
Angela? I saw her last night with the Duke, in 
the gardens. 
CELLINI 
I stole her. 


176 THE FIREBRAND 


PIER 
Then you are dead. The Duke will forgive mur- 
der, but not the loss of a girl. 


CELLINI 
[ Dejectedly. | 
I stole her! And what have I found? That what 
was rich and mystical under the stars, was gross and 
common in the light of day. 


PIER 
That discovery is generally made at twenty. 


CELLINI 
You have no idea of the change in her! Yesterday 
she was mute; I had to drag the syllables from her, 
almost by force! 
PIER 
And today she chatters away like the teeth of a 
coward. 
CELLINI 
How did you know? 


PIER 
Experience, my young friend, has taught me that 
love is quiet, and domestic life is noisy. 


CELLINI 
Yesterday, when I was near, she was pale, and 


THE FIREBRAND zor dr 


kept her eyes on the ground; today she orders me to 
do this and not to do that, as if I were her lackey! 


PIER 
Do you obey her? 


CELLINI 
I rage—and find myself doing as she tells me! 
I will never have any peace of mind, while she is 
in the house. 
PIER 
You don’t love her. 


CELLINI 
You take the words from her mouth!—TI don’t 
know; yesterday, I would have sworn... 


PIER 
Yesterday, she was remote, and the Duke’s; today 
she is near, and yours! Surely, a man of thirty-five 
should have learned that what are flowers from 
afar, are thorns in the hand, and that to reach 
the Promised Land, is to lose it. 


CELLINI 
[ Sadly. | 
Happy the traveler, then, who never sights his 
home! 
PIER 
But you have never loved Angela. 


178 THE FIREBRAND 


CELLINI 
Inexpressibly. The thought of her awoke things 
within me... like the most delicate petals, trembling 
in the wind, glowing in the light of her. . . 


PIER 

In the beginning, she was the merest rag-doll: 
Your imagination seized upon her; shaped her into 
a mystery, enveloped her in magic, and painted her 
in celestial colors! but the mystery, the magic, and 
the colors were your own. They belonged to her, 
only as you lent them to her. And now—your eyes 
have swept clear what your fancy painted; and 
after all, she is only a poor, human thing. 


CELLINI 

That girl is a greater menace to me than the 
Duke. 

PIER 

Be kind: do not blame her for your own mistake. 
But do not sacrifice yourself: that would be a 
greater mistake. However, you wouldn’t; sacrifice 
isn’t in your nature. 


CELLINI 
[Indignantly. | 
I have been very good to my sister and to her 
children! 
[A rapid knocking on the rear door. | 


THE FIREBRAND 179 


. PIER 
The Duchess! You will not want me here. 


CELLINI 
[Going to the door. | 
Stay in the house. 


PIER 

[Prer exits left front. The Ducuesss enters, 
unaccompanied, and acknowledges CELLINI’S 
low bow with a stony stare. He closes the 


door. | 
CELLINI 
[| Rushing towards her. | 
My love! 


THE DUCHESS 
[“Carved in ice’’. | 
Your Lady. 
CELLINI 
[Apparently thunderstruck. | 
My Lady? I don’t understand. 


| THE DUCHESS 
[ Suspiciously. | 
Didn’t your friend convey my message? 


CELLINI 
[Assuming a puzzled formality. | 
He did, My Lady. 


180 THE FIREBRAND 





THE DUCHESS 
And you have the impudence!... 


CELLINI 
[Anger creeping into his address. | 
I thought your message a gesture of protection 
for both of us. I see it was not. 3 


THE DUCHESS 
[One foot beating a tattoo. | 
Presently, you will see more. 


CELLINI 
[ Aggressively. | 
I do see more, Madam. I see that it ill befits a 
great lady to make a poor sculptor the butt of her 
idle caprices! 
THE DUCHESS 
[Thunderstruck in turn. | 
My caprices? 
CELLINI 


But the fault is my own, My Lady. 


THE DUCHESS 
[Breathing hard. | 
It is very good of you to acknowledge it. 


CELLINI 
[Lashing out.] 


THE FIREBRAND 181 


I should never have been fool enough to believe 
that Your Ladyship would really condescend to me. 


THE DUCHESS 
[Who had expected a suppliant. | 
What game is this that you play? 


CELLINI 

Game, Madam? I must thank you for supplying 
the right word: I should have understood that a 
poor sculptor is fair game for a Duchess. 


THE DUCHESS 
[Studying him. | 
You are not only a villain, Cellini, but a clever 
villain. You try to put me on the defensive. You 
will not succeed. 
CELLINI 
Madam, whatever you speak from, I speak from 
the heart. 
THE DUCHESS 
[Biting her lips. | 
You have no heart! 


CELLINI 
No, for Your Ladyship has torn it out of my 
breast and flung it in my face! 


THE DUCHESS 
[Beating a tattoo again. | 


182 THE FIREBRAND 


Cellini, you have my key. I want it. [He does 
mot look at her as he hands it to her.| You will 
have no further use for it. 


CELLINI 
Madam, then, has finished her sport. 


THE DUCHESS 
[ Losing ground with her temper. | 
How dare you say that to me? You, who made 
a fool of me, last night. 


CELLINI 
Madam has made a fool of me for a lifetime. 


THE DUCHESS 
[Her voice revealing her weakening. | 
You left me waiting up for you, like an idiot, 
until dawn came. 


CELLINI 
[ Whose one fear was that she knew of ANGELA. | 
Is that all? ... 


THE DUCHESS 
[ Witheringly. | 
All? 


THE FIREBRAND 183 





CELLINI 


I spoke unthinkingly, my lady. 


THE DUCHESS 
Why did you not return? I left you for a moment, 
and you were gone for the night. 


CELLINI 

I could have returned, Madam. But I did not 
desire Ottaviano and the executioner for my com- 
panions. 


THE DUCHESS 
What do you mean? 


CELLINI 
Let me tell you all about it. 


THE DUCHESS 
I know your tongue: it is as glib as your chisel. 


CELLINI 
- Judge for yourself, Madam. When the Duke 
appeared, I vaulted the wall and crouched there. 
You left me with my blood in fever, and my one 
desire was to reach you again. But Fate does not 
grant us bliss, easily. I was seen and chased by the 
soldiers. 


184 THE FIREBRAND 


THE DUCHESS 
The Duke and I stood on the balcony for the 
longest time: It is strange that we heard no noise. 


CELLINI 

It is not strange, Madam, for I tried to make no 
noise, and the soldiers did the same. It was hide-and- 
seek in the dark, and I was It. One fellow caught 
me, but I laid him out with one blow, before he could 
yell! Finally, after a dozen hair-breadth escapes, I 
reached the road. But so great was my desire to be 
with you—that here, where I was safe, I turned 
back. 


THE DUCHESS 
That was bravely done .. . Benvenuto. 


CELLINI 
[ Highly gratified. | 
I had barely entered the gardens again, when I 
was seen again, and this time, they chased me half 
the way to Florence. It was dawn, before I was 
free of them. 


THE DUCHESS 
[Grudgingly. | 
Benvenuto, I may have been hasty. But you do not 
know of the night I spent... . First, there was the 
Duke, on the balcony. I thought you hidden behind 
my door, and dared not return to my room. The 


THE FIREBRAND 185 


Duke, who never takes the night air, this time took 
it into his head to stand and stand and stand... 


CELLINI 
That must have been irritating. 


THE DUCHESS 

He had the funniest look on his face: I was afraid 
that he knew you had been with me. . . Finally, I 
managed to see that you weren’t behind the door, 
and retired to my room... 


CELLINI 
But not alone, for my thoughts followed you there! 


THE DUCHESS 
[ Smilingly—at last! ] 
Then they went too far! ... I waited forever, 
it seemed, and went out on the terrace again. You 
were nowhere in sight. . . 


CELLINI 
No, Madam, I was not! 


THE DUCHESS 
I walked around the corner of the terrace, and 
saw a man, and thought it was you... 


186 THE FIREBRAND 


CELLINI 
Probably at the very moment I was choking the 
fellow who had caught me! 


THE DUCHESS 
It was the Duke, in his nightgown, peering into 
the darkness as if looking for someone! He pro- 
fessed to have been sleep-walking, but I saw that he 
was lying. I retired to my room, fearing one in- 
stant that you would come, and the next, that you 
wouldn’t. 


CELLINI 





My Lady 


THE DUCHESS 
You offend me again. Your manner of addressing 
me, does. I have instructed you not to call me Your 


Lady! 


CELLINI 
[Attempting to clasp victory in his arms. | 
My Love! 


THE DUCHESS 
[Waving him away. | 
Do not make love to me. 


) CELLINI 
Beauty’s mother, I said, was cruelty. 


THE FIREBRAND | 187 


THE DUCHESS 
Poets rarely forget their own lines. Benvenuto, 
I will be frank with you. I do not believe your story. 


CELLINI 
[Taken aback. | 
But surely 





THE DUCHESS 

There were queer doings at the Palace, last night, 
and I know only a part of what happened. Something 
happened—lI caught the smell of it in my husband’s 
perambulations, in your running away, in the very 
air! 

CELLINI 

I did not run away—lI was chased away. What 

can I say if you will not believe me? 


THE DUCHESS 
I did not say that. I said, I do not believe you! 
But I will believe you, although I do not; for there 
are fables which our hearts accept while our minds 
reject them. Your fable is one of those. 


CELLINI 
I ask no more than that your heart believe me. 


THE DUCHESS 
It does, Benvenuto—but stay, keep your distance; 
yet: I would warn you, first, that the credulity of 


188 THE FIREBRAND 


even my heart can be taxed too far! Look to it, 
in the future, my friend, that you do not vanish 
from my threshold into the wide, dark world! 


CELLINI 
My desire has never left your threshold. 


THE DUCHESS 
[Producing her key from her bosom. | 
It cannot cross my threshold without this... . 
[Crexiumnr’s hand stretches forth hopefully; as it 
does, a terrific pounding shakes the rear 
door. | 
OTTAVIANO’S VOICE 
{ Outside. | 
Open the door, or we break it down! 


THE DUCHESS 
[Returning her key to her bosom.| 
It is Ottaviano! 
[Brearrice enters left front.]| 


BEATRICE 

[ Jubilantly. | 

They’ve come to hang Cellini! 

[A crash against the door shows that Ottavi- 
ano is making good his threat. BEatTRIcE 
rushes to the door and swings the bolt. Crt- 
Lint, with drawn sword, stands ready; the 


THE FIREBRAND 189 


Ducuess goes to the extreme right front. 
Orraviano and his Soupiers burst in with 
bared weapons; behind them, the Hanemay, 
a frightful individual, rope in hand. | 


OTTAVIANO 
[Taking in Cevuin1 at first glance, but missing 
the DucueEss. | 


There he is !—Cellini, you are under arrest. 


CELLINI 
Not yet. 
[Pizr enters left front, followed by several 
Soupiers, who have come through the house, 
and now stand guard at the exit. | 


OTTAVIANO 
Resistance is useless. You are outnumbered. 


CELLINI 
I am never outnumbered while my sword is in my 
hand. 
OTTAVIANO 
[Contemptuously. | 
More histrionics. [T'o his Souprers.| Seize him, 
but don’t hurt him. 


THE DUCHESS 
[Going down center. | 


190 THE FIREBRAND 





Ottaviano, I forbid it! 
[The Soupiers pause uncertaily. | 


OTTAVIANO 
[ Displeased by her presence. | 
My Lady, I did not see you. 


THE DUCHESS 
[Imperiously. | 
I forbid it, I say. 


OTTAVIANO 
[ Rudely. | 


Madam, keep away. ‘This is man’s work. 


THE DUCHESS 
[ Angered. | 


I notice that you take no part in it. 


OTTAVIANO 
Madam, you interfere with the Duke’s orders. [To 
his Souprers.| Don’t stand like clowns! Seize him, 
I said. [The Souprers close in on Creturmt. The 
swords flash brilliantly. Pizr prevents the two 
guardsmen at the left front door from joining their 
companions by engaging them himself. One of the 
attackers mounts the table and jumps on CELuInr’s 
shoulders, bearing him to the ground, where he is 
disarmed. OttTaviano turns to see Pier still fighting 
valiantly.| Arrest that fool! 


THE FIREBRAND 191 


[Pier is pinioned from behind and relieved of 
his weapon. Cr.urnt is brought down center 
stage. Bratricr, who has cowered left rear 
while the battle was on, approaches the 
crowd. | 


BEATRICE 
[Plucking Orraviano by the sleeve.] 
O noble Sir! A good day’s work! He don’t pay 
his honest debts. 
[Orraviano hurls her from him.] 


THE DUCHESS 
[Going center stage herself, and not conceal- 
ing her rage. | 
And having insulted me, what do you intend to do 
further? . 7 
| OTTAVIANO 
[ Diplomatically. | 
Madam, there was no insult intended. I only 
obey the Duke’s orders to hang Cellini as soon as 
he is caught. I propose to do this—at once. 


THE DUCHESS 
Do you presume that your own will supersedes 
mine? 
OTTAVIANO 
Madam, I presume that the Duke’s will supersedes 
all others. 


192 THE FIREBRAND 





THE DUCHESS 
What is the charge against Cellini? 


OTTAVIANO 
Didn’t Alessandro tell you? 


THE DUCHESS 
Alessandro acted at breakfast as if he had lost 
his Dukedom. He said nothing. 


OTTAVIANO 
Perhaps he mourned that one of his subjects should 
be so faithless as to plot against his life. 


THE DUCHESS 
Cellini? 
OTTAVIANO 
Cellini, Madam, and in pursuit or his murderous 
aim, he went last night to the Summer Palace. 


THE DUCHESS 
[Imprudently. | 
That is not true. 


_ OTTAVIANO 
[ Stiffening. | 
Have you any proof, Madam? 


THE DUCHESS 
[ Quickly. | 
No. Who discovered this plot of Cellini’s? 


THE FIREBRAND 193 





OTTAVIANO 
[Impatiently. | 


Madam, for some reason you parley for time. 


THE DUCHESS 
[Arrogantly. | 
Who discovered this plot? 


OTTAVIANO 
[ With bad grace. | 
I did, Madam. 


THE DUCHESS 

[To CeLuint. | 
Is this true? 

CELLINI 

[Putting all of his despair into two words. | 
He lies. 

7 THE DUCHESS 

[Facing OTrTaviano. | 
I know: it is one of his oldest habits. 


OTTAVIANO 
[Venting his rage on the Haneman. ] 
Why don’t you get to work? 


THE DUCHESS 
[As the Haneman adjusts the rope around 
Cetiunr’s neck. | 


194 THE FIREBRAND 





If you hang him now, I will assuredly hang you 
tomorrow. 
[The Haneman pauses, looks at OTTAVIANO. | 


OTTAVIANO 
If you don’t hang him now, I will assuredly hang 
you today. 
THE HANGMAN 
| With a hoarse laugh. | 
My Lady, I had rather it was tomorrow. 
[ CELLINI is hoisted on a chair. | 


OTTAVIANO 
[ Triumphantly. | 
Cellini, your time has come. 
[A fanfare of trumpets outside. | 


THE DUCHESS 
[ Triumphantly. | 


Cellini, your time has not come. 


BEATRICE 
[At the rear door. | 
It’s the Duke! I see his gentlemen. 


OTTAVIANO 
[Calmly. ] 
He will be in time for the execution, Madam. 
[Enter the Dux, his courtiers, and trailing 
a few feet behind, Emuta. | 


THE FIREBRAND 195 


THE DUKE 
[Surveying the situation. ] 
How fortunate! I was afraid that I might be late 
for the happy event. [Sees the Ducuess.]| What 
Madam, you too? We shall both see it, then. 


THE DUCHESS 
I hope not, Alessandro. 


THE DUKE 
Your feelings are too tender. A ruler should 
cultivate firmness. [T’o Orraviano.] Can he be 
hanged here? 
OTTAVIANO 
[Points to the ceiling. | 
Those rafters will do excellently. 


THE DUKE 
[Looking up. | 
So they will. Probably put there for that very 
purpose. Will someone bring me a stool? [A cour- 
tier places two chairs side by side. The Dvuxg, to 
the Ducuess.| Madam? 


THE DUCHESS 
[Her foot beating a tattoo. | 
I will stand, My Lord. 


. THE DUKE 
What are you angry about, Madam? 


196 THE FIREBRAND 





THE DUCHESS 
I am not angry—yet, My Lord. 


THE DUKE 
You’re always angry when your foot goes that 
way! [Looks at the chairs, seats himself.| Well, 
as you please, Madam. And now, let us proceed 
with our business, 
THE DUCHESS 
Alessandro. 
THE DUKE 
One moment, my dear! I want to see that every- 
thing is done properly. Has Cellini been introduced 
to the gentleman who hangs him? 


CELLINI 
My acquaintance with him is sufficient, My Lord. 


THE DUKE 
[ A pplauding. | 
Bravo, Cellini! An excellent spirit. It’s a pity 
you plotted against me. 


CELLINI 
[ Passionately. | 
My Lord, I never did! 


THE DUCHESS 
[In the same breath. | 
My Lord, he never did! 


THE FIREBRAND 197 





THE DUKE 
What’s this? What’s this? [7'o Orraviano. | 
He says that he never did. 
[The Haneman climbs up to one of the rafters 
with the loose end of the rope.| 


OTTAVIANO 
He still hopes for life, Alessandro, 


THE DUKE 
That’s absurd. He hasn’t a chance. 
[ Ascanio, affrighted by the scene which greets 
him, enters cautiously and creeps to the rear, 
where he discovers Emtta. | 


THE DUCHESS 
Alessandro, you must listen to me. 


THE DUKE 
I am always attentive to what you say. 


THE DUCHESS 
You must hear Cellini’s story. 


THE DUKE 
Madam, I have no doubt it would be worth hear- 
ing—his stories are always interesting; but my mind 
is made up. 


198 THE FIREBRAND 





THE DUCHESS 
[Her foot tapping. | 
You must hear him. 


THE DUKE 
[Trying to look firm. | 
You’re too tender-hearted. ...I wish you 
wouldn’t do that with your foot; it makes me nervous. 


THE DUCHESS 
Did you not hear me say that you must listen to 
Cellini? 
THE DUKE 
[ Pleadingly. | 
My dear, he simply must be executed. I’ve been 
looking forward to it all morning. 


OTTAVIANO 
Madam, your concern is unnecessary. He dies 
justly. 
CELLINI 
[Trying to get at him.|] 
Liar! Hypocrite! Assassin! 


THE DUKE 
[To his wife. | 
There! You see the sort of things he says. I 
won’t hear another word. 


THE FIREBRAND | 199 


THE DUCHESS 
[To CELLint. | 
My Lord is anxious to hear your story. Tell him 
what you have to say. 


THE DUKE 
Oh, well, all right! Ill listen until things are 
ready. 
CELLINI 
My Lord, it was Ottaviano—— 


OTTAVIANO 
[Loudly, to the Haneman on the rafters. | 
Don’t take an age to finish that! 


THE DUKE 
[To Orraviano. | 
Not so much noise—I can’t hear him. 


THE DUCHESS 
Perhaps he does not want you to hear him, Ales- 
sandro. 
CELLINI 
My Lord, he does not, for he knows that before I 
am through, it is he that will be in this halter. 


THE DUCHESS 


[ Queckly. | 


You accuse him? 


200 THE FIREBRAND 





OTTAVIANO 
[T'o the Haneman. | 
Ready? 
THE DUKE 


[To CEeLuint. | 


You accuse Ottaviano? 


THE HANGMAN 
[Calling down. | 
Ready. 
CELLINI 
I accuse Ottaviano! 


OTTAVIANO 
Everything is ready, Alessandro. 


THE DUCHESS 
Everything but justice, perhaps. 


THE DUKE 
[Peevishly, to Orraviano. | 
Don’t rush me. There’s plenty of time to hang 
him. 
OTTAVIANO 
I protest, My Lord. He will say anything of any- 
body for a few more moments of breath. 


THE DUKE 
Will it do any harm to let him waste his breath 
before he loses it? [7J'’o Crxunt.] Proceed. 


THE FIREBRAND 201 


CELLINI 
My Lord, yesterday you left Ottaviano behind in 
this room. 
THE DUKE 


I don’t recall, but I probably did. 


CELLINI 
He proposed to me that it would be to our 
advantage if you were put out of the way. 


OTTAVIANO 
Ridiculous! 
THE DUKE 
[ Angrily. | 
I don’t think it ridiculous that I should be put out 
of the way. [TJ'o Cretuimi.| But Ottaviano told 
me last night that it was you who had suggested the 
idea, 
THE DUCHESS 
Perhaps to protect himself. 


CELLINI 
Precisely, Madam. [To the Duxr.] My one 
thought was to tell of the plot. But how could I 
reach you? I was guarded. I told the soldier I 
must see you, and he laughed at me, There was 
nothing left to do but kill him. 


THE DUKE 
Of course. 


202 THE FIREBRAND 


CELLINI 
Then I went to the Summer Palace, for no other 
reason than to see you. 


THE DUKE 
But why did you not ask for me at the Palace? 


CELLINI 
Because I stumbled across Polverino, and had to 
kill him. 
THE DUKE 
[In a tone of reproach. | 
I don’t think that was necessary. 


CELLINI 
He attacked me. When I saw him on the ground, 
I lost my head and ran away. 


THE DUCHESS 
[To the Duxe. | 
Don’t you see? Ottaviano, finding that Cellini had 
fled, suspected that he was on his way to tell you. ... 


CELLINI 
And laid the plot to me! 


THE DUKE 
[T'o Orraviano. | 
What do you say to all this? 


THE FIREBRAND 203 


OTTAVIANO 

It needs no explanation. Here is a man about to 
swing. He tries to save his neck at the expense of 
mine. 

THE DUKE 
[To the Ducuess. | 

That sounds reasonable. It’s what I would do. 

[She shakes her head negatively.| Oh! No? 


CELLINI 
My Lord, if I were the guilty one, why did I send 


word of my whereabouts? 


THE DUKE 
[To OTTAVIANO. | 
He scored there. 
OTTAVIANO 
[Indignantly. | 
Will you take the word of this cutthroat against 
my word? 
THE DUKE 
[ A pologetically. | 
Don’t think that of me. I’m just listening to him 
to please my wife. 


THE DUCHESS 
[To the Dux. | 
Have you forgotten what happened three years 
ago? 


204 THE FIREBRAND 


THE DUKE 
Of course I have; you know very well I can’t re- 
member five minutes back. 


e 


OTTAVIANO 
[ Haughtily. | 
My Lord, I am a Medici, and I claim the right of 
protection from further insult. My honor is at 
stake; you must hang Cellini, or you must hang me. 
In the name of our family, I demand, which of us 
will you hang? 


THE DUKE 
Cellini, naturally ... but still... 


OTTAVIANO 
Let him produce a witness to his story. 


THE DUKE 
[To Cexuint. | 
Can you? 


CELLINI 
We were alone, My Lord. 


THE DUKE 
You should always have a witness. They often 
come in handy. 
[Ascanio, who has gradually forged to the 


THE FIREBRAND 205 


front during the argument, now throws him- 
self at the Duxr’s feet. | 
Hello! What do you want? 


ASCANIO 
[Stammering in fright. | 
My Lord, I heard them. 


THE DUKE 
[To CELuInt. | 
I thought you had no witness. 


CELLINI 
[ Astonished. | 
I thought we were alone, My Lord. 


THE DUKE 
[T'o Ascanto. | 
He thought they were alone. Where were you? 


ASCANIO 
[ Indicating. | 
Under the workbench, My Lord. 


THE DUKE 
[To Ascanto. | 
Under the workbench? That’s no place to be. 


206 THE FIREBRAND 


ASCANIO 
I was afraid of a beating, My Lord. 


THE DUCHESS 


Ah! So you hid there? 


ASCANIO 


Yes, My Lady. 


THE DUKE 
And what happened? 


ASCANIO 
The Master and... the other one, came in. 
The other one wanted the Master to kill you. 


THE DUKE 
Which other one? 


ASCANIO 
[ Pointing to OrTTaviano. | 
That one.. 


OTTAVIANO 
The boy lies. 


THE DUKE 
It’s not the other one, then, but that one. Well, 
what happened? 


THE FIREBRAND 207 





ASCANIO 
The Master would not do it. 


OTTAVIANO 
The boy lies. 
THE DUKE 
[To Orraviano. | 
Where’s your witness? 


OTTAVIANO 
I have none. I need none. 


THE DUKE 
You never can tell; this one was hidden under the 
table ; did you have a look in the furnace? 


OTTAVIANO 
The boy lies. 
CELLINI 
Ascanio speaks the truth. 


OTTAVIANO 
He lies, I say! He is faithful to his master and 
has invented this yarn to save him. 


THE DUKE 
Very likely you’re right ... but it does seem 
convincing. 


208 THE FIREBRAND 





THE DUCHESS 
[To Ascanto. | 
What else did Ottaviano say? 


ASCANIO 
| Blubbering. | 
I don’t know if I should tell, My Lady. 


THE DUCHESS 
You need not be afraid. Speak. 


ASCANIO 
He said that the Duke is an ass. 


THE DUKE 
[Very angry. | 
Did he say that? Then I'll hang him in Cellini’s 
place. 


OTTAVIANO 
I never said that you were an ass, Alessandro. 


THE DUKE 
I should hope not: I was always considered the 
bright boy of the family! Pier! Where’s Pier? 
[Sees that Pier is held by two guardsmen.| Re- 
lease him! [Prer, free, steps to the Duxer.| Pier, 
you knew my father. Didn’t he consider me a wit? 
Wasn’t he always laughing at me? 


THE FIREBRAND , 209 


PIER 
He was, My Lord. 


OTTAVIANO 
My Lord, I am a Medici against perjurers! [ 
never said that you were an ass. : 


THE DUKE 
[Glowering at him. | 
Maybe not, but it sounds like you to say it. 


OTTAVIANO 
This rascally boy is Cellini’s apprentice; what is 
such a witness worth against my word? 


THE DUKE 
[ Hesitantly. | 
It’s a point. I don’t know. 


THE DUCHESS 
[ Ringingly. ] 
Then we will call another witness against Ot- 
taviano—no apprentice, but a man, and a Medici! 


THE DUKE 


Who? Where was he hiding? 


THE DUCHESS 
I call Ottaviano against Ottaviano. My Lord, I 


210 THE FIREBRAND 


asked if you remembered what happened three years 
ago? 
THE DUKE 
What does it matter, now? 


THE DUCHESS 
This much: that it convicts Ottaviano! 
[She whispers in the Duxr’s ear. | 


THE DUKE 
[ Starting. | 
And fancy, I forgot. [To Orraviano.] You 
tried to have me killed before. 


OTTAVIANO 
[Throwing himself at the Duxr’s feet. | 
You forgave me, My Lord! 


THE DUKE 
[ Firmly. | 
You have been at it again. 


OTTAVIANO 
I swear that I have not, 


THE DUKE 
I swear that you have . . . and added insult to 
injury by calling me an ass. [Throws a purse on 


THE FIREBRAND 211 


the floor and turns to the Souprers.| That to the 
man who takes the rope from Cellini’s neck! 
[The Souipiers swarm to Creuurnt for the re- 


ward. | 
CELLINI 
[Stepping joyfully from his perch, after rough 
handling. | 


My Lord, you have almost killed me with kind- 
ness. 
[The victor bends for his spoils. | 


THE DUCHESS 
[Tossing her purse where the other was. | 
That to the man who puts the rope around Ot- 
taviano’s neck! 


OTTAVIANO 
[In the halter. | 
I throw myself on your mercy, My Lord. 


THE DUKE 
I will hang you on the rafter where you would 
have hanged Cellini. 


THE DUCHESS 
[ Spontaneously. | 
I feel too happy to see even Ottaviano hanged to- 
day. 


212 THE FIREBRAND 


THE DUKE 

You are too tender-hearted, my dear, but you 
shall have your way. [T'o the Souprers.] Lead 
this fellow forth through the streets of Florence, as 
an example to all villains, and lodge him in jail. We 
shall see justice done tomorrow. 


OTTAVIANO 


[ Struggling. | 
My Lord, forgive me. 


THE DUKE 
Never. 


OTTAVIANO 

[Feeling that he has no more to lose. | 
Then I did say it—you are an ass. 

[He spits at the Duxe. | 


THE DUKE 
[ Violently, as OTTAVIANO is removed. | 
Put him in a rat-infested cell! Don’t be particu- 
lar about his meals! Don’t give him vinegar, he 
likes it! 
[Orraviano and the Soxtpiers are gone. The 
Haneman has coiled his rope and descended. | 
[To him. | 


It’s a shame. that all your work was wasted: I 


THE FIREBRAND 213 


know just how you feel. We’ll make up for it, to- 
morrow. 
[The Haneman ezits.]| 


THE DUCHESS 
[ Severely. ] 

Cellini, let this be a lesson to you: never do any- 
thing which is not open and above board. [To the 
Duxt.] My Lord, you are to be congratulated on 
your wisdom; a great injustice has been avoided. 


THE DUKE 


I think myself I handled it rather well. 


THE DUCHESS 


But I had no intention of staying here, this length 
of time! I must go. 


THE DUKE 
[ Surprised. ] 
You came unescorted? Will you have a gentle- 
man? 


THE DUCHESS 


I brought a page with me; he awaits outside. 
Cellini, I shall want you to decorate the fountain at 
the Palace. 


214 THE FIREBRAND 


CELLINI 
My Lady, your service is my pleasure. 


THE DUKE 


[ Beaming. | 
Very prettily put. 


THE DUCHESS 
My Lord, gentlemen, I wish you good-morning. 
[Zo Cruurt.] I shall let you know further. ... 
[Obeisances on all sides, as she goes. | . 


CELLINI 
[Dropping to his knees. | 
My Lord, you have given me my life. 


THE DUKE 
[ Patting him. | 
A poor gift, in itself; you shall make the dies of 
my mint, as well. 
CELLINI 
[After kissing the Duxe’s hand. | 
My Lord, here is a miracle: that I, a poor sculp- 
tor, can repay a Prince’s generosity—with more than 
its equal. I have a gift for you. 


THE DUKE 
[Frowning. | 
What is this gift that you have? 


THE FIREBRAND 215 


CELLINI 
A jewel, my Lord. 


THE DUKE 
[His frown deepening. | 
I have many jewels. 


CELLINI 
My Lord, you have no jewels unless you have this 
jewel. 
THE DUKE 
Let me see it. 
CELLINI 
But not, My Lord, with the world at your back. 
Your Excellency’s eyes should feast alone. 


THE DUKE 
[T'o his courtiers. | 
Gentlemen, I will see this mysterious gift. You 
will await me outside. [They exit rear. The Duxr 
notices Bratrice.] What, old goat-face? Still 
alive? How disappointing! 
[Crexnuinti darts a look at Beatrice which sends 
her out left rear, but she looks in curiously, 
now and again. .. Emii1a and Ascanto ezit. | 


CELLINI 
My Lord, be prepared for eternal beauty, which 


216 THE FIREBRAND 





never existed before this age, and which must per- 
ish with it. [He goes to the right front exit and 
calls.| Angela! 


THE DUKE 
[ Rising with delight. | 
Angela? Here? 
[AncELA appears at the right front entrance. | 


ANGELA 
[ Reproachfully, to Ce.utnt. | ! 
You made me wait for the longest time! 


THE DUKE 
Angela. 
ANGELA 
My Lord! 
THE DUKE 


[With a change of countenance, to CELLutInt. | 
What’s she doing here? 


CELLINI 
My Lord, I found her wandering in the gardens, 
fearful of the Duchess. There was nothing to do 
but bring her with me. 


THE DUKE 
[To ANGELA. | 
If you knew the night I’d spent! Peering into 
dark corners, thinking you were hidden there. . . 


THE FIREBRAND 217 





CELLINI 
My Lord, I love this girl. 


THE DUKE 
I fancied yesterday you were sweet on her. 


CELLINI 

I love her, with all my heart and soul. Life with- 

out her will be arid and desolate. But, My Lord, I 
must think of your great generosity to me, 


THE DUKE 
You affect me, Benvenuto. 


CELLINI 
The house without her will be quiet, My Lord. 


THE DUKE 
You’ll miss her about you? 


CELLINI | 

I will, My Lord. I will wonder why she is not near 

me, when I work, and I will long for her gay little 

chatter! But I must think of your great generosity 
to me. 


THE DUKE 
I am moved, Benvenuto. 


218 THE FIREBRAND 





CELLINI 

My Lord, I boasted that I would give you a gift as 
precious as the one you gave me. You gave me life, 
and in return, I give you the life of my life. 


THE DUKE 
[ Exploding. | 
Damn it! I won’t let you do it! 


CELLINI | 
My duty to you comes before my happiness, My 
Lord. ‘Take her and leave me to the stillness of my 
house. | 
THE DUKE 
Benvenuto, we are both men of sentiment. I can’t 
let you sacrifice your happiness for mine. 


CELLINI 
My Lord, I will get along somehow, without her. 


THE DUKE 
You have given her to me, nobly, and I give her 
back to you. 


CELLINI 
[ Panic-stricken. | 
You will offend me deeply, My Lord. My Lord, 
I will learn not to miss her, on my word. Time heals 
the bitterest hurt. 


THE FIREBRAND 219 


ANGELA 
[Who has listened mutely, goes to the Duxz. | 
My Lord, take me with you. 


THE DUKE 
[ Pleased. | 
What do you think of that! She wants to come 
with me. 
ANGELA 
[ Without malice. | 
He doesn’t want me. 


THE DUKE 
You shouldn’t say that; he was doing a very fine 
thing. [Jdly slips an arm around her.| You are 
a lovely thing! 
CELLINI 
My Lord, I cannot bear this. Take her, I implore 
you. 
THE DUKE 
[Clearing his throat. | 
You really think that you could do without her? 


CELLINI 
My Lord, I am sure of it. 


THE DUKE 
And .. . her absence would not have a perma- 
nent effect? 


220 THE FIREBRAND 





CELLINI 
My Lord, it would sweeten my nature. 


THE DUKE 
Then Benvenuto, I will not offend you: I will 
take her. 
ANGELA 
My Lord, I go with you willingly. But you must 
promise me one thing. 


THE DUKE 
You can have all of Florence. 


ANGELA 
I want my mother sent out of the country. 


THE DUKE 

Nothing could give me more pleasure. [To CE1- 
uini.| You shall see Angela as long as possible. I 
insist that you walk to the gate with us. 


CELLINI 
My Lord, you are as tactful as you are wise. 
[They exit rear. Emitta runs in, pursued by 
Ascanio; he corners her. | 


EMILIA 
Alligator! Crocodile! Vermin! 


THE FIREBRAND 221 


ASCANIO 
[ Pleadingly. | 
I followed you all the way to the Summer Palace 
and couldn’t find you. 


EMILIA 
You had no right! . . . I wouldn’t have seen you. 
oP okihad. 2.) 
ASCANIO 
[Closing in on her. | 
You can’t get away from me, now. 


EMILIA 
[As he forcefully embraces her, yields herself 
completely. | 
Oh, my darling Ascanio! 


ASCANIO 
[ Amazed. | 
You love me? 
EMILIA 
[ Sobbing. | 
Terribly. 
ASCANIO 


I thought you hated me. [Ezaultantly.] Vm 
going to have you. 


222 THE FIREBRAND 





EMILIA 


I know it... but be good to me, be good to me. 


[Cexurni enters and grabs Ascanio by the col- 
lar. | 


CELLINI 
What the devil do you mean by listening to my 
private conversations? 


[Sends him spinning. |] 


ASCANIO 
[Clutching Emriia’s hand. | 
I know a place where we can be alone. 
[They run out. Crxurni returns to the anvil. 
BEATRICE appears at the right rear.| 


BEATRICE 
[ Jeeringly. | 
Wouldn’t give me my money, and now the Duke’s 
got her! What’s your forty ducats? [I'll live in 
Florence like a Queen! 
[Crimi throws the hammer at her; she ducks 
and disappears just as a Pace enters. | 


THE PAGE 
[ Inqutsitively. | 
I was told to ask for Cellini. 


THE FIREBRAND 223 


CELLINI 
What have you? 


THE PAGE 


[Producing the Ducuess’s key. | 
My Lady wants you to make a duplicate of this. 


CELLINI 
[Taking the key.] 
Tell her she shall have it tonight. 
[Once more, he gazes at the key.] 


THE END 














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